The Devil is in the Detail!
On October 13, as part of the European Semester, the EPSCO (Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs Council) endorsed main messages on the EU’s social situation and priorities for social policy reform. Ministers also endorsed the Social Protection Committee’s report on key social challenges,2 based on its analysis of the Social Protection Performance Monitor (SPPM). The main messages highlight a deterioration in the relative poverty situation as well as in quasi-jobless households. The messages make one reference to housing:
“Household incomes are increasing again in many MS, leading to a reduction in severe material depriva-tion rates and in the burden of housing costs in several countries”.
FEANTSA is alarmed by this brief, optimistic assessment. It neatly glosses over the EU’s current housing crisis. Deeply worrying trends appear to have passed under the radar. These messages are backed up by the SPC’s report on key challenges. This, in turn, is supported by annexes. Detailed analysis therein reveals a worrying picture, with little for EPSCO members to celebrate on housing.
Feantsa encourages the Commission to take full account of housing exclusion and homelessness in relevant country reports and country-specific recommendations in 2017, drawing on all relevant EU statistics, and filling gaps on issues such as homelessness with evidence provided by experts and stakeholders.
Please read the full statement here
