By Marine Perrio, IEECP
Back in July 2024, in her speech to the European Parliament, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen identified housing access as a priority for the upcoming mandate: “People are struggling to find affordable housing. That is why, for the first time, I will appoint a Commissioner with direct responsibility for housing. We will develop a European Affordable Housing Plan.” She now announced, on September 17, Dan Jørgensen (Denmark, S&D) as Commissioner-designate for Energy and Housing, a joint responsibility, adding a new “taskforce” for Housing.
Housing enters the European Commission
“We want to build a competitive decarbonised and circular economy with a fair transition for all,” von der Leyen said in Strasbourg September 17. Jørgensen “will help bring down energy prices, invest in clean energy and ensure that we cut our dependencies”. Among his priorities: completing the Energy Union, producing more clean energy and upgrading the EU’s grid infrastructure. He will also be “the first ever Commissioner for housing.” Well-known in Brussels, having been a member of the European Parliament’s environment committee from 2004 to 2013 before ultimately becoming Denmark’s energy and then climate policy Minister, Jørgensen is also well-connected in national capitals and was a key member of the EU’s negotiation team at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai last year.
“Dan Jørgensen is designated for Commissioner for Energy and Housing. On one leg, he stands on green sustainability, and on the other leg, he stands on social sustainability. Both are key sustainability agendas,” Housing Europe President, Bent Madsen and CEO of the Danish National Association of Non-profit Housing Companies, BL – Danmarks Almene Boliger says.
Mission letters were sent September 17 to the College of Commissioners. HouseInc looked at all of them to see how the new Commissioners’ tasks will support our project work, and how our work (mostly our policy recommendations) can feed into theirs! We first looked at the one addressed to Dan Jørgensen. Note that all Commissioners-designate will have to go through the European Parliament’s hearings (between 4 and 8 November) before being confirmed, if so, for the coming five years (2024-2029). Jørgensen’s missions would therefore include putting forward an Action Plan for Affordable Energy Prices, strengthening the social dimension of the Energy Union, further proposing measures to address energy poverty and contributing to the European Affordable Housing Plan (offering technical assistance to cities and countries). On the “housing” side of things, von der Leyen tasks him to support Member States in addressing structural drivers, unlocking public and private investment for affordable and sustainable housing. That work will be delivered under DG Energy, with a new taskforce on housing.
A Commission oriented towards more equality for all, for a prosperous and secure future
Von der Leyen wants the Commission’s work to « strive for equality for all and equality in all of its senses. By promoting equality and inclusion, and by defending and upholding the rights of minorities, Europe can not only create a fairer society and social model, but also draw on all of its talent and potential to build a sustainable, prosperous and secure future”.
The HouseInc project welcomes the new appointment and missions, eagerly waiting to see how the mission letter can be turned into practice, as sustaining our unique quality of life should be ensured for all, including marginalised communities. The rights to a decent and affordable housing (including with proper and affordable access to energy, health, transport and digital access) is part of this “European quality of life”.
“I welcome the appointment of the new Commissioner for Energy and Housing as it highlights the urgency of addressing housing inequality within the EU and illustrates the complexity of the current challenge,” says HouseInc project coordinator Dr. Anne Kantel, from Fraunhofer ISI. She adds that “ensuring the right of housing goes beyond addressing the current shortage of affordable homes. Housing inequality is a multidimensional challenge with wide-spread impact on people’s health and well-being, our economic conditions as well as social cohesion.”
We are happy to imagine that tools and a proper dedicated strategy to tackle the issues will now be provided at the EU level. We also strongly encourage several Commissioners and Directorate General (DGs) to work together on the issues, and we are encouraged by reading in several mission letters the following tasks:
- Hadja Lahbib, Commissioner-designate for Preparedness and Crisis Management and for Equality should work on a new Anti-Racism strategy, ensuring that all people are able to live lives free of the barriers that racism creates. Lahbib will “spearhead the implementation of the EU Strategic Framework for Roma equality, inclusion and participation and improve the lives of marginalised Roma communities in Europe”. A taskforce on equality will support the DG.
- Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President for People, Skills and Preparedness, will lead the work on the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, aimed at supporting people accessing essential services and protections they need, addressing the root causes of poverty. She’ll contribute to the European Affordable Housing Plan.
- Magnus Brunner, Commissioner-designate for Internal Affairs and Migration, will need to combat antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred, contributing to the update of the Anti-racism Strategy, ensuring real and viable legal pathways for refugees, and a strategy for their integration in communities and the labour market, “to stand fair and firm on migration’. He will oversee the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum to bring the first European Asylum and Migration Management Strategy.
- Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner-designate for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth will need to further strengthen the framework for a social and just transition.
The urgency to tackle housing inequalities
10.8% of the EU population live in a household where housing costs represent more than 40% of the disposable income (Eurostat, 2023), and 22% of the EU population live at risk of (housing) poverty or social exclusion (Eurostat, 2022): reducing housing inequality is key to reducing inequality and poverty overall and is one of the most urgent social, economic and political challenges in the EU.
Housing inequality, defined as disparity in the access, affordability, quality of housing conditions and availability of housing between different groups of people, affects many in the EU. Those living in or at risk of poverty are disproportionately impacted. The quality of housing goes beyond the physical structure of a building and has impacts on health and well-being, economic and working conditions, and social cohesion. HouseInc, a project funded by the European Commission Horizon programme (2024-2027) investigates how housing inequality is driven and impacted by various dimensions of poverty (such as energy, mobility, and health).
In the light of multiple ongoing crises in Europe, such as rising energy prices, global warming, Covid-19, and changing migration patterns, the project focuses its research activities on vulnerable groups living in or having migrated from Eastern Europe. The aim is to develop (policy) solutions to enable a socially just and equitable green transition that contributes to the development of an inclusive European society. Diversity and a greater social justice are at the heart of HouseInc and the project’s objective to examine poverty interlinkages and their impact on housing in order to derive high-quality policy recommendations.
Anne Kantel concludes: “The HouseInc project team is looking forward to supporting the next Commission with evidence-based research on affordable, inclusive and sustainable housing and offering empirically-derived policy recommendations.”
HouseInc partner Bocconi had reacted to the news as well over the summer, read their blog here.
