Fitted: "The EU is strengthening interventions on the housing emergency"

“Housing is a national competence, but the European Commission is dealing with it in an increasingly relevant way”. To assure this, the executive vice president of European Commission, Raffaele Fitto, on the sidelines of the presentation of the third strategic metropolitan plan of Bologna, answering a question on the topic ofhousing emergency.

“In the current programming of cohesion policy there are already several interventions dedicated to housing – claims Fitto – and as early as next week, the Commission will present the European Plan for housing affordable house: a very important tool for all Member States.”

“We have allowed Regions and Member States to remodulate the funds by identifying five new priorities – he explains -: competitiveness, energy, defence, housing and water. The house has become a concrete priority, as demonstrated by the numerous requests we have been receiving in recent weeks.”

A further step, Fitto anticipates, will be that of the future European budget and the integration with national and regional plans: “Programming tools can be used to address what is no longer just a priority, but a real housing emergency”, he underlines. Like the new European Bauhaus, “which can encourage urban regeneration projects, the recovery of degraded areas and the creation of affordable housing, in particular to respond to the needs of young couples”.
“The European Commission will continue this path in harmony with the Member States – he guarantees -, through constant dialogue with governments, Regions and Municipalities, to make the interventions as effective as possible”.