B4-0581/96

Resolution on the UN Habitat II Conference: 'the City Summit¨, Istanbul, June 1996

The European Parliament,

A. whereas up to 18 million people within the European Union can now be considered as being either homeless or very badly housed in substandard or overcrowded conditions,

B. whereas the world's urban population is constantly growing and will represent in 2025 2/3 of the total; whereas already 600 million people worldwide are estimated to be living in "life and health-threatening¨ homes and neighbourhoods because of inadequacies in housing and in provision of daily infrastructures and services,

C. whereas the Habitat II Conference to be held in Istanbul on 2-14 June 1996 will be the last of a series of 20th century UN conferences addressing some of the most fundamental issues with regard to the quality of life of future generations,

D. whereas the reasons for the increasing difficulties of access to adequate and affordable housing include the lack of adequate resources, long-term unemployment and gaps in the social protection safety nets and lack of adequate social housing units,

E. whereas all Member States have recognized the right to adequate housing for all as a principle by ratifying the 1966 UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in their national legal provisions or in their administrative practice,

F. whereas non-implementation of the right to housing is a breach of the principles and democratic values on which European society is based, as stated in the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, according to Article F(2) of the Treaty on European Union,

G. whereas, ever since 1955, housing assistance programmes and programmes to improve the residential environment of coal and steel workers and their families in order to contribute to the quality of production and competitiveness of companies in this industry have been funded by the Commission with justifications based on the Treaty,

H. whereas there is a growing need to promote transnational exchanges of information and experience about ways of preventing housing exclusion,

I. whereas only a long term and concrete policy in favour of housing the most vulnerable groups will be able to bring about sustainable and in-depth solutions to the dramatic housing problems our countries are now facing and will thereby stimulate job creation which is now the Community's top priority,

J. whereas women have been largely excluded from participating fully in the decisions that shape the development of human settlements in cities, towns and villages, though it is women who suffer the most and who have the worst shelter,

K. whereas indigenous people on the one hand and refugees, migrants and street children on the other hand are both victims of forced movement from their traditional territory or settlements and therefore especially affected by the problem of decent housing and living conditions,

L. whereas the Commission is discussing the opportunity of having a Green Fund for Third World cities to support a wide range of community-level environmental improvements,

M. whereas the European Union has not so far been actively involved in international action for human settlements,

N. whereas the Commission will be taking part in the Habitat II Conference, and a lot is expected of the European Union's involvement in this Conference,

The European Parliament,

1. Invites the Commission to draw up terms of reference for sound and equitable access to adequate housing for all in the framework of a well-defined principle of subsidiarity, in order to determine the objectives to be achieved throughout the Member States, while taking into account local realities;

2. Reminds the Commission that there cannot be real economic integration without social integration;

3. Urges the European Union to incorporate the right to housing into all treaties and charters regulating European Union activities and objectives;

4. Asks the Council and Commission to initiate a programme aimed at reinforcing cooperation between local players concerned with setting up pilot projects (comprising the four elements of housing, employment, training and services) for the global integration of marginalized groups, on the model of the programme set up by Cecodhas, FEANTSA and the European Trade Union Confederation, and to involve women in it fully, as they are a powerful factor in the fight against exclusion and play a decisive role in the preservation and restoration of social ties and solidarities;

5. Calls on the Commission to examine how ECSC funding competence can be continued;

6. Asks the Commission to stimulate the creation of new jobs in the field of construction and the housing environment and to encourage access by women to professions such as architecture, civil engineering, the construction professions and town planning, so as to improve the habitat as a whole for all Union citizens;

7. Reminds the Commission of the essential role of the voluntary sector, whilst recognizing that solidarity organized by state authorities is the fundamental principle of democracy;

8. Asks the Commission to support key European organisations like FEANTSA and Cecodhas insofar as they operate in the field of better access to housing for vulnerable groups;

9. Considers that, for each of these actions, the Union can act more effectively than Member States can in isolation and contribute to more parallel, complementary and well-informed actions at the appropriate levels, in the spirit of the Union treaties;

10. Urges the European Union to support at the Habitat II Conference international recognition of the right to housing, especially improving the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

11. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to build up a political consensus at the Habitat II Conference in favour of a policy for human settlements integrating environmental, social, economic and cultural aspects, and a renewed international effort for the implementation of Local Agenda 21s in cities and local authorities;

12. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to work at the Habitat II Conference in favour of encouraging decentralization and strengthening the role of local communities, so that international loans and funds can be directly accessible to local authorities, NGOs, community-based organizations etc without government mediation;

13. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to work at the Habitat II Conference in favour of the empowerment of indigenous people as well as migrants, refugees and street children so that they can have the political and financial means to determine their living and housing conditions;

14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to join the major international global programmes for human settlements in developing countries so as to promote more efficient policy coordination;

15. Calls on the Commission to strongly support the European Sustainable Cities Campaign;

16. Calls on the Commission to review its policy in urban areas of developing countries so as to enable the involvement of local communities and especially of women in project implementation, their direct access to funds allocated, and closer coordination with similar actions of the Member States in the affected areas;

17. Invites the housing ministers to place the recommendations of this resolution on the agenda of their next informal meeting and on the agenda of its next social affairs session;

18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of the Member States, the Economic and Social Committee, the Commitee of the Regions, the social partners, and the UN General Assembly and Centre for Human Settlements.