Housing and ecological transition discussed at the ‘Maison de l'Europe’ in Paris
Against the backdrop of an EU-wide housing crisis, energy insecurity, and climate emergency, European and national public policies face the challenge of renovating the housing stock on a massive scale while ensuring access to affordable homes for all.
In this context, the European Commission has recently created a dedicated portfolio and is developing a European Plan for Affordable Housing. How are European countries coping? What can the EU do to help? These issues were discussed at a roundtable event at the “Maison de l’Europe de Paris” in September, which brought together its president Michel Derdevet, Laurent Ghekiere (Head of EU Office of “L’Union sociale pour l’habitat” and President of Housing Europe), Isabelle Maquet (Economic Counsellor at the European Commission’s Representation in France), and Federica Rotondo (ReHousIn researcher at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics, Sciences Po).
Laurent Ghekiere recounted how the issue of housing has gained momentum in Brussels recently compared to when he started working there 10 years ago. Isabelle Maquet recalled some staggering figures about the housing crisis, before explaining how various European policies impact housing. Federica Rotondo adopted a comparative perspective on how European countries relate housing policies and ecological transition goals. Drawing on the ReHousIn research (Horizon Europe) she emphasized how housing renovation policies, shaped by specific housing systems and institutional contexts, can lead to unequal social and spatial outcomes. She stresses tenure-specific impacts, the risks faced by vulnerable groups, and the importance of integrated, socially inclusive and territorially sensitive approaches.
The discussion with the audience touched on other factors in the crisis (demographic changes, short-term rentals), differences between territories, the importance of integrating housing policy with urban and regional policies, exchange networks between European cities, among other topics.
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