Jaume COLLBONI

Mayor of Barcelona

The European Union is at a crossroads. We are living in a crucial moment, with threats to our way of life both from outside – such as Russia’s growing assertiveness to our Eastern borders – and from inside – the rising social unrest given the rise of the cost of living, in which housing plays a prominent role. Our citizens are requesting urgent and bold action to tackle the ever-increasing prices and the lack of affordable and decent housing. 

We, the cities, are taking the question of housing very seriously – but we need the European Union institutions to do the same. This is the spirit of the opinion that the plenary of the Committee of the Regions will vote on in the coming days and for which I have been the lead rapporteur.

But let us take a step back. Why has housing become a major source of concern for European cities and regions? The answer is simple but extremely relevant: because the very democratic regime that we have built since the end of WWII is at stake. This is the case as the right to housing is recognised in several treaties and conventions – from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at global level to the Spanish constitution at member state level. Therefore, we, the public representatives, need to ensure that institutions are able to protect and uphold this right – otherwise, citizens will start questioning the legitimacy of these very institutions. This is particularly concerning in the current global context, where populist extreme right-wing authoritarianism is tirelessly winning ground. A similar question mark hangs over the European project: if the EU fails to deliver a bold response to the housing crisis, the already existing Eurosceptics will continue to gain ground.

Therefore, we need to act fast and in a substantive manner. We need to change the rules of the game, because the current game is not working. Barcelona has implemented ambitious measures to revert the current situation, such as our decision to ban touristic rentals – shorter than one month – in our city by 2028, or the implementation of a price cap to rents, which is already working well, with a decrease of rents by 6.4 per cent between March 2024 – when the cap was implemented – and December 2024.

Now is also the moment to push the opinion on housing in the Committee of the Regions. Especially as the European Commission has shown positive signs about its commitment to a more ambitious European policy on housing. The appointment of the first-ever Commissioner on housing and the intention to publish the European Affordable Housing Plan are promising milestones. But cities need more, and we need it now.

The opinion notes that we require an ambitious, progressive European policy on housing with two elements at its core: resources and decision-making. We need the EU to up its game on resource allocation to public investment in housing, and this investment needs to be directly streamlined to the cities and regions. We cannot waste time on bureaucratic procedures that prevent money from reaching its final destination: the citizens. 

At the same time, we believe that the EU should truly recognise cities and regions as the frontrunners in the fight against the housing crisis: it is we who face the growing discontent among citizens and, therefore, we should have a greater say in the design of the solutions. The opinion is a strong, useful instrument to convey this message through the Committee of the Regions, the voice of cities and other subnational entities in the European Union. It is not the only lever we are currently applying to ensure housing is on top of the Commission’s agenda: since last December, 15 major European cities, with Barcelona at the forefront, have gathered around the Mayors for Housing alliance, an informal coalition of mayors that demand swift action on housing from the European Union.

What both the opinion and the alliance note is a simple, yet powerful idea: while the European Union is addressing its external threat, the geopolitical danger of Russia to our Eastern borders, we also need to address with the same sense of urgency and gravity our internal threat: the increasing risk of social unrest caused by the housing crisis. This means, in practice, that while EU ministers agree to remove public spending on defence from the fiscal rules in the stability pact, they should do the same for investment in public housing. Both risks should receive equal treatment, because both entail an existential threat to the systemic foundations of our democracies.

We are just at the start of the road. We still need to go a long way to ensure that the right to housing is completely upheld everywhere in the European Union. The European project requires a clear social agenda. And to build a social Europe, we need ambitious and effective housing policies. Several voices suggest this will be the mandate of Europe’s competitiveness – we believe it should be the mandate of Europe’s housing capacity. There is too much at stake not to take bold action – and to do it now.

Photo credits: Shutterstock / SewCreamStudio