WRITTEN QUESTION No. 532/98 by Concepció FERRER to the Commission. Social housing
C 323/46 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 10. 98 Joint answer to Written Questions E-0525/98 and E-0527/98 given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (7 April 1998) Directive 93/109/EC of 6 December 1993 has been transposed by all the Member States and was applied at the time of the June 1994 elections. Sweden, Austria and Finland applied it on the occasion of the first European Parliament elections held in their countries in 1995 and 1996. The Honourable Member is asked to refer to the Commission report of 7 January 1998 to Parliament and the Council on the application of the Directive on voting rights of EU citizens living in a Member State of which they are not nationals in European Parliament elections (1). (1) COM(97) 731 final. (98/C 323/62) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0532/98 by Concepcio· Ferrer (PPE) to the Commission (2 March 1998) Subject: Social housing The Commissionís White Paper on social policy explicitly mentions housing as a key area in combating social exclusion and as an important source of new jobs. What initiatives are currently being taken to promote social housing? How much money does the European Union allocate for this purpose? Does the Commission intend to take measures under the ERDF to promote social housing or include it under any other existing programme? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (15 May 1998) Housing policy remains within the competence of the Member States. The Commission at present is confined to supporting only very limited activities such as comparative research studies on housing issues. All the Member States recognised a common right to adequate housing by ratification of the 1966 United Nations international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights. At their latest informal meeting, held in Amsterdam on September 24, 1997, housing ministers aimed to identify housing issues of common interest for future discussions. They agreed that the special subject for discussion at the next informal meeting will be áthe impact of housing construction, housing renovation and modernisation on employmentí. Housing is also a factor to consider in the strategies against social exclusion. In this context, the Commission supports activities carried out by Feantsa, the European federation of the national associations working with the homeless. Its 1997/1998 programme relates to the role and impact of supported housing in the reintegration and the exclusion process. For the period 2000-2006, although not specifically financing housing actions through the structural funds, the Commission is nonetheless proposing that áa high level of poverty, including poor housing conditionsí should be amongst the criteria for the selection of urban areas under objective 2 in future. As proposed regions covered by objective 2 would deal with economic and social conversion, should have four types (industrial including services, urban, rural and fisheries areas)