Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on 'Housing and the homeless'
Date: 1999-06-03
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: homelessness, housing law, housing policy, social problem

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The COR notes that the proposal to include Turkey in the
programmes during the current programming period will
enable preparatory measures to be undertaken with a view to
supporting Turkey’s participation in the future programmes.

In conclusion, the COR supports the Commission’s proposal
to open the current programming period (1995-1999) of
the Socrates, Leonardo and Youth programmes to include
Turkey.

Brussels, 3 June 1999.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Housing and the homeless’

(1999/C 293/07)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the decision of its bureau of 16 September 1998 under the fourth paragraph of
Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community to draw up an opinion on the subject
and to direct Commission 4 for Spatial Planning, Urban Issues, Energy and Environment to prepare the
opinion;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 376/98 rev. 1) adopted by Commission 4 on 4 February 1999
(rapporteur: Mr François Geindre),

adopted the following opinion at its 29th plenary session on 2 and 3 June 1999 (meeting of 3 June)
unanimously.

1.

Introduction

The Committee of the Regions has for some time wished to
address the issue of homelessness. Although homelessness
assumes different forms from country to country in the EU,
and may not at first sight appear to fall within the Community’s
remit, the presence of homeless people in our towns and cities
nevertheless remains one of the most serious signs of social
exclusion in the European Union, primarily affecting local and
regional authorities. This opinion basically reflects the point
of view of these authorities.

1.1. The basis for EU action on the homeless

1.1.1.
Homelessness is one of the core issues in Community
discussions on housing. It is also tied in with the desire to
strengthen European social policy, and is encompassed by
European initiatives and programmes to combat exclusion, as
well as by guidelines for urban policy.

1.1.2.
action to assist and provide care for homeless people.

A number of legal bases may be invoked to underpin

Title XIV of the Treaty establishing the European
1.1.3.
Community (Maastricht)
is concerned with economic and
social cohesion, with Articles 130a to 130e governing Com-
munity action to reduce disparities between the levels of
development of the various regions and the backwardness of
the least-favoured regions (provisions organizing the machine-
ry of the structural funds).

Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty, which will apply
1.1.4.
once the Treaty itself comes into force, aims to combat
inequality and discrimination in access to the employment
market. It will open the door to assistance for projects designed
to prevent and reverse the processes of social exclusion.
Article 137 of the Amsterdam Treaty will provide explicit
authority to act in the field of social exclusion. At present, the
EU has to fall back on Article 235 of the Treaty establishing the
European Community which, subject to Council unanimity,
allows action to be taken where there is no specific provision
in the Treaty. This state of affairs sometimes produces deadlock
which is extremely damaging to Community social policy.

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1.1.5.
The reform of the structural funds, currently under
discussion between the Member States and the Commission,
should enable unemployment and social exclusion to be
combated more effectively on a European scale. The level of
intervention envisaged entails explicit reference (in the draft
framework regulation) to promoting social integration and
equality of opportunity. The draft regulation promotes an
integrated approach to development, and, in particular, ‘con-
sistency between the operations of the various Funds and the
Community’s priorities, the strategy for employment, the
economic and social policies of the Member States and the
regional policies of the Member States.’

1.1.6.
Two other aspects need to be taken into consider-
ation. Firstly, the Commission’s adoption on 15 October 1998
of the reports on the European strategy for employment, with
the 1999 guidelines placing the emphasis on five key areas,
one of which is opening up the labour market to all, including
the disabled and ethnic minorities. Secondly, the world day
against poverty on 17 October 1998, on which occasion the
social affairs commissioner, Mr Flynn, stated that Community
policy had to be improved, using the legal basis of Article 137,
in order to boost the capacity for vocational integration: 17 %
of EU households lived on incomes below the poverty line.

1.1.7.
Concerns about the situation of the most disadvan-
taged members of society, including the homeless, are pro-
gressively finding a more prominent place in European Union
discussions and policy.

1.2. COR recommendations

1.2.1.
The present opinion looks at homelessness in the EU
from all points of view. It contains five recommendations and
observations, which should be affirmed right away.

1.2.2.
homelessness problem, the Committee of the Regions:

In view of the seriousness and & complexity of the

(i)

recommends that the European Union continue to support
research into homelessness,

(ii) proposes consolidating arrangements at EU level

to
exchange knowledge and initiatives between local au-
thorities, based on existing networks,

2. General comments

2.1.
Since the mid-1980s, the homeless have assumed a
highly visible presence in the public areas of EU cities. The
problem is not a new one, but has taken on a new dimension,
especially because extreme forms of poverty are unanimously
judged to be unacceptable in a society of plenty. The position
and living conditions of homeless people are everywhere
viewed as an affront to human rights.

2.2.
Over the last fifteen years or so homeless people,
caught in the process of social exclusion, have been the object
of public reaction ranging from the hostile to the sympathetic,
a barrage of media and scientific attention (numerous articles,
reports, research and publications), and official concern (more
vigorous pursuance of adequate accommodation, development
of structured policies and/or one-off arrangements).

The problem of homelessness goes to the very heart of
2.3.
the socio-economic and cultural make-up of each European
country. It is handled locally, giving rise to reactions which
invariably run the gamut from repression to solidarity. While
official action on the homeless does receive broad public
backing in the various countries, at the same time it has to
come to terms with a degree of ambiguity in popular
sentiment, with local people calling for the homeless to be
either taken in or dispatched elsewhere.

2.4.
None of the difficulties revolving around homelessness
(access to housing, begging, behavioural problems, integration
into work, access to health care) can be dealt with as a purely
local responsibility. What is really needed is cooperation
between local and regional bodies on an unprecedented scale,
bearing in mind the blurring of national borders.

2.5.
The question of homelessness is by no means a
secondary or side issue. It is a key problem to which there is
no short-term solution. The aim of ensuring greater economic
and social cohesion across the European Union necessarily
involves taking account of this sensitive area, which is bound
to remain a feature of daily life in European towns at the
beginning of the 21st century. The Committee of the Regions
calls for every effort to be made to avoid this state of affairs
being accepted, and hopes that all steps will be taken to
prevent such situations.

(iii) recommends that ESF objectives specifically cover this

issue,

3. An as yet little-known population

(iv) calls upon the European institutions to give further
consideration to the principle of a right to adequate
accommodation,

3.1. A concern in every EU country

(v) wishes to draw attention to the question of cohesion and
European integration in relation to the problem of the
Community’s proximity to less-advantaged countries.

The homeless may not appear as a concern of the
3.1.1.
European institutions. There was no specific reference to them
the
in the White Paper on European social policy. But

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various European anti-poverty and exclusion initiatives and
programmes (Urban, Integra, Poverty, ESF projects) have made
it possible to support innovative schemes for dealing with the
homeless in the Member States. Moreover, recent trends in
European debate point to a growing interest in these issues.

3.1.7.
The homeless are now high on local and national
political agendas. At certain times of year, especially in winter
when weather conditions become dangerous, the homeless
arouse quite natural feelings of compassion. At other times,
generally the tourist peaks, the reaction is far less sympathetic;
while in some ways understandable, this is highly objectionable
from many points of view.

3.1.2.
It is agreed in all EU countries that homelessness is
unworthy of generally prosperous countries. It is also agreed
in all these countries that it is a sort of distillation of social
and urban problems. The homeless are the most visible
representatives of exclusion, which in its various forms is
continuing to spread throughout Europe.

3.1.3.
Perceptions of poverty and exclusion vary consider-
ably. Nevertheless, in the eyes of those living everywhere in
the EU homelessness is prominent among those phenomena
seen as defining poverty. Against a backdrop of anxiety, rising
long-term unemployment and concern over the causes of
social exclusion, the homeless stand squarely at the centre of
this problem in most Member States.

3.1.4.
Since the late 1980s the number of people living
under such conditions has become alarming. Although an
objective increase in homelessness is borne out by the
increasing local pressure on official or voluntary-sector ser-
vices,
little is actually known about the real scale of the
problem: by the same token, hard data on the homeless
themselves is hard to come by. Significant progress has
however been achieved thanks to recent research efforts.

3.1.5.
The state of extreme poverty and the high proportion
of single males in this population is well-known. The growing
proportions of women and of young people have also been
widely documented by research in many urban areas of the
EU. Similarly, high levels of alcohol or drug consumption and
a poor general state of health, particularly tuberculosis and
mental health (although this should not be overstated), have
been acknowledged as important public health issues. Lastly,
the growing number of homeless non-nationals, either from
elsewhere in the EU or from North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa
and Eastern Europe, has also been recorded, with levels varying
from country to country. The growing proportion of migrants
among the homeless is an element which should be taken into
consideration, although clearly not to the same extent in every
country.

3.1.8.
A number of non-governmental organizations are
concerned with this question at EU level, backing research
and putting pressure on public bodies. They also point to
similarities and differences between countries. FEANTSA, the
European Federation of National Organisations Working with
the Homeless, was set up in 1989, and since 1991 has been
charged by the Commission with managing a European
Observatory on Homelessness, working through a university
network of national correspondents. Thanks to the network,
information has been successfully compiled and circulated
concerning the identity, numbers and make-up of a population
that does not conform to conventional statistical models which
are usually based on fixed households.

3.2. A heterogeneous population

3.2.1.
The higher profile of the homelessness issue over the
last ten years or so is explained firstly by the more obvious
presence of individuals in the public areas in towns, although
their real numbers cannot as yet be accurately gauged. Certain
types of collective action have also made the homeless more
visible: squatting, the emergence and spread of street papers,
lobbying by activist associations, demonstrations and occu-
pations of public areas or empty buildings.

3.2.2. While describing a population which all European
citizens can see for themselves in the streets of their towns
might appear simple, it is in fact extremely difficult to gain an
accurate picture of this group, in particular because not all
homeless people are readily identifiable as such in the street.

Knowledge about

the homeless is scanty,

firstly
3.2.3.
because there is no precise definition or established legal
description of the term in each country.
‘Homeless’ means
very different
things from one country to another. The
definitions, rules and practices of the different Member States
further complicate the picture. In spite of efforts at clarification,
there are no certain EU-level definitions either.

3.1.6.
The problem takes different forms and is more visible
in some countries and towns than others, depending on the
welfare arrangements, but in most Member States the pattern
has been similar in the 1990s: the emergence everywhere of
‘Big Issue’-type street papers sold by homeless people, more
calls for official intervention by the general public, and the
growth of voluntary-sector initiatives.

3.2.4.
Some studies and national legal provisions put both
travellers and the homeless in the same category, since they
are of no fixed abode. Placing such different people together
in the same category can confuse matters. It is nevertheless
true that the question of the acceptance and tolerance of
travellers is from many points of view comparable to that of
the treatment accorded to the homeless.

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3.2.5.
The fundamental reason for this lack of knowledge
is that the homeless constitute an extremely heterogeneous
group, covering individuals living in highly diverse circum-
stances, ranging from the traditional tramp, usually male and
living rough for years, to young women who have just been
evicted. Research efforts have revealed that the duration of
homelessness varies substantially. It may be a transient, chronic
or permanent condition. Some have been on the streets for
some time and are likely to stay there longer still, for others it
is a brief and never-to-be-repeated experience; others find
themselves homeless from time to time. Public perceptions
and official reactions may not necessarily be similar in each
case.

constitute a fixed ‘stock’. A clearer picture of the actual state
of affairs can be gained by taking account of larger movements,
of individuals’ personal stories, and of people both falling into
and escaping from this position. The situation is complex and
must be understood as one stage — albeit among the last and
most painful — in the process of social exclusion.

3.2.11.
It must always be borne in mind, then, that the
homeless population is extremely heterogeneous and cannot
be taken as a stable social category. Situations which differ
widely in terms of social ties, housing or social security cover,
for example, receive the same label.

‘vagrant’,

3.2.6.
An initial problem arises concerning the meaning of
the word ‘homeless’. In its common usage, it refers more to a
kind of social status than to an individual’s housing position.
‘Homeless’,
‘tramp’ or ‘beggar’ are often taken to
mean the same thing, with discussions on homelessness often
turning into debates on begging. However, not all beggars are
homeless, or vice-versa. Homelessness is also closely tied to
the housing problem, but the presence of individuals identified
as being homeless in Europe’s towns and cities is not
exclusively a housing issue.

The term ‘homelessness’

3.2.7.
is commonly used to
describe, more or less accurately, a range of problems encoun-
tered daily by those who rub shoulders with persons labelled
as homeless, who are involved in working with them or
running schemes for their benefit. In this way, very different
aspects (lack of housing, the public spectacle of social abandon-
ment, begging, vagrancy, extreme forms of poverty, changes
in market trends and housing policy, etc.), are brought together
under a single heading.

3.2.8.
Convention definitions — which remain open to
debate — emphasize the sporadic or persistent lack of stable
housing. Analyses concur in recognizing the affinities between
the circumstances of people living rough and people living in
hostels, makeshift accommodation or in accommodation
where they have no security of tenure. Consequently, the
homeless population is not limited to the highly-visible and
disturbing condition of those sleeping on the streets, or to a
simple head-count of those seen by voluntary or official social
services.

3.2.9. Most studies concentrate more on the social proc-
esses at work than on loss of housing alone. The homeless are
thus viewed in terms of the various processes of exclusion
rather than from the single perspective of the poor functioning
of the housing market.

3.2.10.
The most in-depth research suggests that thinking
should always be in terms of social processes and should go
further than a simple static description of circumstances.
Looked at in this way, the homeless population does not

3.3. Uncertain statistics

3.3.1.
Despite these difficulties and the risk of being
imprecise, some statistics on the homeless do exist both within
each Member State and at EU level. However, as the originating
researchers and observers recommend, they should be treated
with great caution.

3.3.2.
It is nowadays essential to come up with statistical
estimates in order to sway decision-makers and have an impact
on public opinion. The aim of drawing attention to the
homeless through a single measure has very often led to
figures being announced without any of the necessary prior
clarification (who are we talking about? over what area? for
how long?), or without applying rigorous census or sampling
methods. Current estimates frequently make no distinction
between the number of individuals who are homeless over a
whole year and those who are homeless at a given point during
the year. They also often confuse the total number of homeless
people with the number of cases dealt with by the appropriate
social services. The effort to quantify the problem is distorted
by the changing descriptions of the population in question,
since these descriptions may vary depending on the interests
of those who produce them. Some prefer a broad definition
(bringing in those living in sub-standard housing), while others
opt for a strict definition covering only the most marginal of
the very poorest sector of society.

3.3.3.
Tables have been drawn up in each of the Member
States, often based on reports from voluntary associations and
sometimes using official data. Figures have been compiled and
disseminated by FEANTSA, which clearly states that they must
be used with care (Table A). They are more a reflection of the
extent of care arrangements in each Member State than a
detailed appreciation of the real situation. They also depend
on the local definition of the problem. The figures have not all
been compiled with the same degree of rigour and, since they
do not always refer to people in the same circumstances, they
cannot be used for very searching transnational comparisons.
They do nevertheless give some idea of the scale of the
problem and of the wide range of situations.

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TABLE A

Estimate of the annual average number of persons using official
and voluntary services for the homeless in the early 1990s

Country

For an average day,
or for the day
surveyed

For a one-year
period

Austria

Belgium

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Portugal

Spain

Sweden

6 100

4 000

2 947

4 000

250 000

490 700

5 500

2 667

56 000

194

7 000

3 000

8 000

9 903

8 400

5 500

4 000

5 500

346 000

876 450

7 700

3 700

78 000

200

12 000

4 000

11 000

14 000

3.3.7.
Given the growing demand for figures, much recent
scientific research has concentrated on the question of how
many homeless people there are. The research has served to
outline what is at stake in making such counts, to clarify the
methodological and ethical complications of surveys of the
homeless, and to test methods which must go beyond the
approximate estimates still used by care workers.

3.3.8.
Current work in this field has emphasized the limited
value of simply producing tables of figures, and has moved
beyond this issue to look at the characteristics of individuals
and their personal background over time. More global method-
ologies for quantifying and assessing the population in ques-
tion have therefore been developed and tested (partial surveys,
more in-depth studies of social service samples, estimates of
the ratio between the numbers of homeless on the streets and
those in hostels). Surveys are soon to be carried out in some
EU countries using procedures which ensure a degree of
reliability. It is nevertheless a fact that we do not know for
certain how many homeless people migrate from one EU
country to another. Such movements are however reported by
care workers, particularly in relation to young people, moving
for example from festival to festival. Much more information
is needed on this aspect.

4. Complex problems, varied responses

United Kingdom

283 000

460 000

Source: FEANTSA.

4.1. A particularly complex social problem

3.3.4.
Approximately 1.1 million European citizens pass
through agencies for the homeless every day. Over a one-year
period, this figure rises to 1,8 million. Again according to
FEANTSA estimates, almost 18 million EU citizens live in very
low-grade accommodation or ‘unconventional’ housing, i.e. in
premises not intended as dwelling-places.

It is worth pointing out that information from certain
3.3.5.
countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden and
the United Kingdom) points to a recent fall in the number of
recipients of services for the homeless, although it cannot yet
be concluded that there is a downward trend, a freeze or even
an increase in the total homeless population.

3.3.6. What the figures do show is that the phenomenon is
far from uniform across the EU, but that these differences are
not necessarily closely connected with the types of welfare-
state provision in the different countries. The problem appears
to be statistically marginal
in certain southern countries
(Greece, Portugal and Spain) and certain northern countries
(Denmark, Finland and Sweden). Similarly marginal in Austria,
it appears on far larger scale in France, Germany, Italy and in
the United Kingdom.

4.1.1.
Numerous studies report the political and social
changes which have gone furthest to swell the ranks of the
homeless. They include new forms of poverty, the advance of
insecurity and long-term unemployment,
the problem of
mental illness, the closing down of institutionalized mental
hospitals, drug and alcohol consumption,
the increasing
number of single-parent families, welfare cutbacks in some
countries, counterproductive increases in others, and difficul-
ties in access to housing.

4.1.2.
Depending on the point of view adopted by the
various social actors, homelessness is first and foremost a
question of housing, of employment, demographics, mental
illness, drug or alcohol abuse, domestic violence, cuts in — or
excessive growth of — social budgets, the relative breakdown
in family ties, or a spin-off of rising or changing poverty.

4.1.3.
There are two major schools of thought on how to
explain homelessness. The focus can be on analysing structural
phenomena (unemployment, changes in the housing market,
etc.); or it can be on the more personal reasons which lead to
an individual becoming homeless (emotional trauma, illness,

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initial social disadvantage, etc.). Supporters of explanatory
models based on individual variables are apt
to criticise
structural approaches which fail to take account of specific
circumstances. Those advocating structural dynamics will
criticise observers or commentators who concentrate on
individual cases as, by so doing, they help stigmatise them.

4.2.2.
By their mere presence or by their behaviour, the
homeless are often mentioned as one of the factors in a climate
of insecurity. The homeless themselves also have to live in a
particularly violent and dangerous environment.

4.1.4.
The structural/individual controversy can only be
resolved by an intermediate stance. The most advanced
analyses emphasize the necessary links to be established
between housing market trends, welfare schemes and the
employment market and more individual elements such as
looser social
links, especially family ones, certain personal
inadequacies and highly disadvantaged social origins. Home-
lessness is not rooted exclusively in either structural or
personal problems: it is most probably the result of interactions
between the two categories. This cocktail of factors generates
a downward spiral which can take some individuals onto the
streets, each problem exacerbating the next.

4.1.5.
In the final analysis, homelessness simultaneously
embraces the problems of institutions’ structural inadequacies
and of dealing effectively with personal weaknesses.

4.1.6.
The practical, day-to-day aspects of homelessness are
equally complex. In addition to the housing problem it also
— and sometimes predominantly — involves employment,
health and behavioural problems. Some homeless people are
in fact housed in hostels or temporary accommodation, and
their primary problem is that of access to employment. Others
are chiefly affected by serious health problems which stop
them finding or keeping accommodation. Yet others, because
of their behaviour, can cause disturbances in the public areas
they use as places of refuge and as a source of income. The
various more or less legal activities they carry out in order to
survive can, to some extent, come close to being anti-social
(forming large groups, threatening behaviour, aggressive beg-
ging); this can further harm the quality of life in towns and
inflate a feeling of insecurity.

4.1.7.
Housing access policies should be considered within
the context of more general measures promoting social
integration, so as to be able to offer the person in need an
integrated service, providing for healthcare and access to
employment.

4.2.3.
Homelessness is clearly a key factor in the highly
topical issue of security. The anti-vagrancy bye-laws introduced
in a number of EU towns (in Belgium, France, Germany, the
Netherlands and the United Kingdom) have triggered political
controversy and major debates on the freedoms of movement
and expression. Such municipal measures, which are open to
criticism, but which are demanded by a significant sector of
public opinion, are the expression of the commonplace NIMBY
(‘Not In My Back Yard’), or even NIMEY (‘Not In My Electoral
Yard’), syndrome — meaning,
in this case, the fear and
rejection of facilities for the homeless in the vicinity. The
homelessness issue runs head-first into the dilemma that while
there is widespread sympathy for the homeless, people always
want action on their behalf to be taken somewhere else.

4.2.4.
The appalled collective reaction of districts or entire
towns to the problem puts the facile image of universal
sympathy for the homeless into perspective. This kind of
reaction often grows from the easy temptation to ostracise,
but it nevertheless serves to show that simplistic utopian
or doom-laden approaches are misplaced. The question of
homelessness also involves issues of security and anti-social
behaviour and therefore brings policing policy and all measures
to regulate public areas into question.

4.2.5.
The day-to-day management of homelessness in
urban areas reflects the difficulties experienced by officialdom
in dealing with complicated problems and taking the necessary
steps to provide a just response to varied — and in many ways
ambiguous — demands from inhabitants who are either
saddened or worried by seeing homeless people in their streets
and towns. A mid-way course must always be steered between
the temptation on the one hand to ostracise the homeless, and
on the other to adopt an excessively idealistic approach. There
is a constant need to remind some individuals of their duties
and to steer others towards greater tolerance.

4.2. Constant concern for the management of public areas

4.2.1.
For local authorities and managers of public areas
(stations, shopping centres, parks, etc.), dealing with home-
lessness means constant concern about how to treat the
homeless and how to regulate and supervise the zones for
which they are responsible.

There is of course no miracle cure to tackle this type
4.2.6.
of dilemma both fairly and efficiently. But positive experiments
have been devised by companies, security services and local
authorities throughout the European Union for public areas,
those who use them and the homeless. In the Committee of
the Regions’ view, it would be helpful to set up a network to
pool these practices, to discuss them and evaluate their efficacy,
fairness and whether they will work elsewhere.

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4.3. A question of local and regional cooperation

regulating authority. Thus the purpose of state intervention is
to organize the monitoring of movements and inter-town
cooperation. The involvement of central government cannot,
however, entirely dispel the dilemmas facing local authorities.

4.3.1.
Homelessness is a local issue, but involves a funda-
mental question of cooperation between different towns within
a given region. A brief glance at the background is necessary
to grasp the importance of this point.

Ever since the birth of Europe’s towns, the question
4.3.2.
of vagrancy has been a prominent concern for local authority
managers. In the Middle Ages, assistance to vagrants — the
attitude to which varied in line with the local social and
political set-up — could be provided for an entire town. No
town, however, could alone provide such relief at regional
level. Towns had a choice: to take in the indigent before their
doors, or to send them away. But if one community, for
religious or political reasons, decided to take them in, it had
no way of knowing whether other local authorities would do
likewise, or whether they would take advantage of
this
willingness to provide shelter and send wanderers their way. A
tension was therefore created between the regional scale of
vagrancy and the local character of relief. This tension was
exacerbated by the increasing numbers of the poor and
vagrants at the beginning of the modern period. Central
authorities took action everywhere in Europe to bind the poor
to a given territory. Relief resources were however inadequate,
and the system could easily be thrown out of balance by a war,
epidemic or poor harvest.

4.3.3. With the growth of towns and their interdependence,
central states intervened in order to provide balanced regional
assistance alongside the local charitable arrangements, which
could no longer cope. The poor were no longer simply kept
enclosed so they could be fed or punished. They were offered
work which was intended to change, chastise, cure or reform
them. Charitable workshops took in all kinds of people, with
very varying degrees of coercion or forced labour. The principle
was to employ the able-bodied poor in a self-financing system
of relief. Here, central authorities had a decisive part to play by
supporting towns. With modest support for local assistance
arrangements, they could maintain overall cohesion. The role
of European states in opposing vagrancy and helping the poor
has continued to expand ever since. Local authority autonomy
has been eclipsed by the emergence of increasingly powerful
states, able to rule over the communities within their territory.

4.3.4.
The central authorities initially thought that the poor
would be prevented from moving freely by obliging each
parish to feed its own poor. The illusion of forced labour
subsequently spread until it was seen to be ineffective.

4.3.5.
If the history of coping with vagrancy is looked at in
this way, it helps explain current circumstances. The lesson of
this model is that self-governing communities are not capable
of action to manage vagrancy in the absence of a central,

Local authorities to this day tend only to take
4.3.6.
on destitute persons whom they identify as being their
responsibility, and experience unease at the attitude neighbour-
ing towns may adopt. Collective management of homelessness
remains a question of balance and territorial organization. For
local authorities, it means minimizing the social and electoral
costs of looking after the homeless, while meeting their legal
and moral obligations. The question,
is always to
distinguish the ‘right’ homeless people who should be taken in
from those who are the responsibility of other authorities. The
choice, which is always arbitrary, is made on the basis of the
ancient division of the ‘deserving’ poor and the rest.

then,

4.3.7.
Consequently homelessness still raises questions of
cooperation between local authorities at a time when adminis-
trative systems are finding it hard to adjust
to present
day regional facts. The collective method of dealing with
homelessness can, from this point of view, be seen as a constant
shuttling back and forth of people and responsibilities. With
the opening of borders and the inward movement of disadvan-
taged individuals, particularly from poorer neighbouring
countries, the problem is becoming increasingly acute. The
Committee of the Regions would argue that a better under-
standing of the situation, prior to an attempt to regulate it
more fairly and effectively, certainly comes within the remit of
the European institutions. The Community level is appropriate
for dealing with problems which involve significant transna-
tional aspects.

4.4. Progress on the right to housing

4.4.1.
In view of the increasing prominence of the question
of homelessness and under pressure from associations and
public opinion, national governments have developed the right
to housing in each country.

The fifteen Member States have ratified all

4.4.2.
inter-
national texts on human dignity. They implicitly recognize the
right to adequate accommodation as a fundamental human
right, as an essential element in respect for human dignity.
Since the Habitat II Conference in June 1996, which witnessed
some disagreement between the US and the EU over the right
to housing, a European vision of the right to housing has
emerged, reflecting an undertaking by states to move towards
implementation of this right, although national circumstances,
approaches and laws may differ.

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4.4.3.
The right to housing has been incorporated into the
constitutions of some Member States (Belgium, Finland, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden). In France it is
regarded as an aim worthy of incorporation in the constitution.
UK and Irish laws, which do not recognize the right to housing,
do respond specifically to the problem of the homeless by
requiring local authorities to house certain priority categories
of people (United Kingdom) or simply to list the homeless and
draw up housing priorities (Ireland). In Germany, it is the
responsibility of the Länder to ensure that no-one sleeps in the
street. They may, in the interests of public order, requisition
empty housing. In Denmark local authorities must provide
suitable accommodation.

a sticking plaster, not a cure. They also note a certain tendency
to institutionalise such efforts, with measures originally con-
ceived as temporary becoming permanent — but without the
financial support necessarily becoming equally stable, and
without homeless people really having the opportunity to seek
a way out of the process of exclusion in which they are caught.
The risk is growing of a two-tier approach to public action on
health, housing, employment and social protection. This is a
source of very serious concern, which must not be overlooked
in the context of strengthening European policy to boost
economic and social cohesion.

4.5. Emergency initiatives: introduction and consolidation

5. Conclusions

4.5.1.
Because of their higher profile and considerable
media coverage, the homeless have triggered a reaction on the
part of public opinion and the public authorities. The sense of
outrage and indignation has spawned the questionable concept
of ‘social emergency’.

Under the Treaty establishing the European Community, the
the Regions is charged with representing
Committee of
regional and local authorities: at the same time, it is empowered
to deal with matters of economic and social cohesion and the
specific machinery of the structural and cohesion funds.

Arrangements for coping with the homeless, particu-
4.5.2.
larly under emergency conditions, have mushroomed over the
last decade or so. The homeless are now the object of specific
instruments and provisions. Conventional action in the form
of housing and food has been consolidated, and now represents
a complex service-delivery system put in place by voluntary
bodies and public services. Some new types of service have
recently been devised (mobile outreach teams, day reception
centres, specially adapted housing arrangements, etc.). A
variety of actors, including both professionals and volunteers,
now work with a range of widely varying measures.

4.5.3.
In a complex legal framework where conflicts of
jurisdiction and funding difficulties are commonplace, inno-
vation has been forthcoming from individual towns and the
voluntary sector. At the local level in particular, fresh schemes
and arrangements have been tried out, based on partnership
agreements between local authorities and voluntary associ-
ations.

4.5.4.
Nevertheless, the bulk of public work for the home-
less in all countries is still founded on a raft of emergency
accommodation and care measures, rather than a real strategy
providing a policy for housing and social integration.

It is apparent that a close evaluation of the problems
4.5.5.
and achievements of the different arrangements for providing
emergency care and shelter would be helpful at this stage.
Certain centres, or types of action, do indeed seem to offer
dignified and effective care which is appreciated by people in
In other cases, assistance may be rejected by the
need.
homeless, due to an intolerable lack of privacy and an
atmosphere of violence.

4.5.6.
Observers and field workers agree on the need for,
but also the limits of, emergency responses. They are by nature

On this dual basis, the Committee of the Regions has five
recommendations and observations to make.

5.1. Supporting a research programme on the homeless

5.1.1.
Research on the homeless offers a number of para-
doxes. Few sections of the community have been subject to
such concentrated media, political and scientific attention.
There has been a torrent of press articles, seminars, books,
surveys and speeches. Research has been conducted in at least
three directions: homelessness as a social phenomenon, as a
way of life, and as an area for action.

These efforts have undoubtedly helped to improve
5.1.2.
our understanding of a group which,
in the early 1990s,
seemed unprecedented, vague and ill-defined. But this sum of
knowledge does not appear to be circulating and is little-used
by the public authorities. Moreover, it cannot provide answers
to the numerous questions regularly asked by decision-makers,
journalists or the general public.

No new programme can be carried out other than
5.1.3.
in close
on the basis of what has already been done,
cooperation with the official actors involved. Certain areas so
far untouched deserve to be explored, such as movements of
homeless people between EU countries, or assessment of care
policies. Other questions, which have already been the subject
of investigations, such as the growing proportion of women
among the homeless, or homeless people’s links with their
families, should be looked at with particular attention.

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5.1.4.
A programme of this kind could lead to a European
forum, organized by a major institution and drawing in
top-level political representatives, as well as local authorities
and NGOs. It could be part of the Commission’s work on ‘the
city of tomorrow’.

5.2. Consolidating an exchange of specialist knowledge and initi-

atives

5.2.1.
One of the major shortcomings pointed out by many
observers of the homelessness issue is the lack of interchange
between towns and actors at European level. Numerous
networks, especially voluntary ones, are already swapping
information and comparing experiences, building up a real
store of thinking on a European scale. Examples of this, in
addition to FEANTSA, are the European Anti-Poverty Network
and the network which has grown up around the European
Charter for housing rights and the struggle against exclusion.

5.2.2.
The Committee of the Regions proposes that a
lightweight structure be built up at EU level, using the
knowledge and methods of these bodies, to catalogue and
disseminate initiatives, good practice and local studies, in the
form of publications, seminars and an Internet site. The aim
here is to support and supplement FEANTSA’s work, from the
point of view of local authorities.

5.2.3.
The pooling of experience and initiatives should be
seen as part of the gradual harmonisation of bodies and
instruments guaranteeing access to housing and the right to
housing within the context of Member State legislation.

5.3. Approaches to economic and social exclusion in the Structural

Funds

5.3.1. While noting the value of EU action in this area, the
Committee of the Regions recommends that homelessness be
explicitly included among ESF objectives, through support for
projects combating economic and social exclusion. This should
improve the chances of finding employment. The ERDF and
Community initiatives such as URBAN and INTERREG should
include assistance measures to promote employment for the
homeless. It is important for the European Social Fund to be
used in future to support initiatives to help people in difficulty.
Even though Community texts often refer to employment and
the labour market, it must nevertheless be stressed that local

Brussels, 3 June 1999.

and regional authorities organise projects on the supply side
(housing, health, adult literacy) which eventually enable the
beneficiaries to return to work. It must thus be possible to take
these projects into consideration in the national employment
plans which will serve as a basis for national Objective 3
programmes.

In the Committee of the Regions’ view, funds must
5.3.2.
possess the necessary degree of flexibility to help implement
local initiatives which further integration and greater European
cooperation.

5.4. Giving further consideration to the principle of the right to

housing at EU level

5.4.1.
Given that housing is the first factor enabling an
individual to set out on a process of social and vocational
integration, the Committee of the Regions calls upon the
European institutions to give further consideration to the
principle of the right to adequate accommodation.

5.5. Observation on proximity to poorer countries and the question

of further migration

The Committee of

the Regions wishes to draw
5.5.1.
attention to the problems raised by movements of disadvan-
taged persons from one country to another.

5.5.2.
Homelessness brings the question of poverty home
to the rich countries and raises the issue of how to respond
with generosity and tolerance towards events on the EU’s
own borders. The homeless in certain EU countries include
increasing numbers of non-Union citizens, particularly politi-
cal — and also economic — refugees from the countries of
eastern Europe. False fears must not be raised about these
movements, but they are nonetheless taking place.

5.5.3.
This delicate question needs to be firmly pointed out
in the run-up to EU enlargement and in the light of the
fundamental objective of economic and social cohesion. The
current problem of migration from less advantaged countries
poses the future question of integrating these countries, the
technical question of how to manage these phenomena, and
the thorny question of how to cope with the human problems
— particularly glaring in the case of sometimes very young
children — wandering the streets of Europe’s cities.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER