1. Eugen LUCAN, 28.06.2011

2.  Good quality, affordable housing is a necessary good and a right.  The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right to a standard of living which includes housing and medical and social care. (Article 25.1)

3.  Homelessness can constitute a direct or indirect violation of human rights as set out in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. ◦ Art. 34 Social security and social assistance: (3) "In order to combat social exclusion and poverty, the Union recognizes and respects the right to social and housing assistance so as to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources (...)." ◦ Art. 1 Human dignity: "Human dignity is inviolable." ◦ Art. 2 Right to life: "Everyone has the right to life." ◦ Art. 3 Right to the integrity of the person: "Everyone has the right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity." ◦ Art. 6 Right to liberty and security: "Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person." ◦ Art. 7 Respect for private and family life: "Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications." ◦ Art. 21 Non-discrimination: "Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic features (...) property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited." ◦ Housing is a fundamental right stipulated in the new Lisbon Treaty. As a consequence, it is necessary proper financing.

4.  Eurostat has stated that 30 million people in the EU suffer both lack of space and poor housing conditions.  In many countries, poverty is deemed to be linked to the high cost of housing: 67% of Europeans consider that good quality housing is far too expensive. This view is particularly widespread in the Czech Republic and Cyprus (89%), Luxembourg, Malta (86%) and Slovakia (84%).

5.  One in six Europeans says that it is difficult to cover the daily running costs of housing. In the EU, 26% of people consider that good quality housing is too expensive in our society. It is the fourth reason in EU society which best explains "Why are people poor?" (According to the new Eurobarometer Survey)

6.  Social and medical emergency programs: ◦ Mobile intervention teams, emergency shelters; ◦ Focus only for saving lives in the street; ◦ The reintegration period equals the double of the period living in the street (SAMUSOCIAL International)  Temporary housing; hostels and shelters: ◦ Focused programs on identifying a working site; ◦ Hosting in emergency shelters for homeless persons; ◦ Corresponds to directory lines of ESF referring to professional reintegration; ◦ Often, due to the absence of a proper housing, people are giving up a working site. Professional integration needs permanent housing. BOTH MODELS HAVE USUALLY AS A MAIN SOCIAL REINTEGRATION OBJECTIVE, IDENTIFICATION OF A PERMANENT HOUSING. IT IS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES AND SOCIAL WORKERS.

8.  Permanent housing ◦ The Finnish model “Housing first” has shown that there is a EUR 14 000 saving for each recipient of assistance. ◦ Individual reintegration strategy is focused on solving all psychological, medical or social problems in conditions of a PERMANENT HOUSING.  Complementary Services and Prevention ◦ There are needed prevention services in every region.

9.  EESC recommending at The Commission and the other European and national institutions should allocate more Structural Funds (budget review 2014-2020, Cohesion Policy: ESF and ERDF) to analysing the issue of homelessness and primarily to building permanent housing in every region and town.  EESC recommending Eurostat should promote common definitions, indices and indicators in order to harmonise statistics. The EESC supports the adoption of the ETHOS typology launched by FEANTSA to define homelessness at EU level. The European Commission should develop an ambitious strategy to eradicate the social issue of homelessness and support the Member States in developing effective national strategies.  Based on these development strategies, there will be settled the new frameworks for national operational programs, focused on homelessness (referring to Regulation (CE)1083/ (37))

10.  The EESC recommends developing various services and promoting minimum standards for all social services for homeless people so that they respond to the full range of needs of homeless people.  ERDF and ESF must be complementary.  ERDF and ESF can finance within a 10% limit measures that can enter the incidence of other Funds intervention umbrella. (Regulation1083/2006 Art. 34).

11.  ERDF: ◦ social houses and apartments, replacement of existing housing ◦ Regulation 437/2010 (change of Regulation 1080/2006). New eligible cost for housing !!! ◦ The allocation to housing expenditure shall be either a maximum of 3 % of the ERDF allocation to the operational programs concerned or 2 % of the total ERDF allocation. ◦ 3% is a small percent reported to the needs of 30 millions of European citizens. (Eurostat) ◦ For the purposes (of point (b) of paragraph 2), interventions may include the renovation or replacement of existing housing  2(a)renovation of the common parts in existing multi-family housing;  2(b) renovation and change of use of existing buildings owned by public authorities or non-profit operators for use as housing designated for low-income households or people with special needs.

12.  ESF: ◦ support and care networks, multipurpose centres; ◦ specialised services (homeless people with HIV or special needs, etc.); ◦ counselling and vocational and professional training; ◦ business training for homeless people, and social economy; ◦ monitoring and support (community care) ◦ support and care networks, multipurpose centres; ◦ family-oriented, social and cultural campaigns. ◦ Within convergence objective (Regulation 1081/2006 Art. 3 (2) (b)) ESF could finance elaboration of some homelessness statistic evaluation programs and of the using impact of typology ETHOS in homelessness evaluation.