On 27th April 2016, the European Parliament’s Written Declaration on an EU homelessness strategy was launched under the initiative of 16 MEPs from five political groups and with the support of the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA). It calls for the European Commission ” to develop a homelessness action plan, taking due account of the principle of subsidiarity, containing measures including monitoring, knowledge development, mutual learning and transnational exchange, and making full use of relevant EU instruments and funding.”
The Written Declaration must be signed by more than half of the MEPs within a delay of three months (by the 27th July 2016), in order for it to be adopted. If it does, it will be published in the European Parliament minutes and forwarded to the EU Institutions named in the text, together with the names of the signatories. This would bring some more political weight to the campaign for an EU homelessness strategy. If the declaration is adopted, it will be the third Written Declaration on this topic by the European Parliament.
Eurodiaconia supports this Written Declaration for a European Strategy on homelessness as such a strategy would contribute to keep the fight against homelessness and extreme poverty on the EU agenda, encouraging Member States to adopt a coordinated approach.
Please find the Written Declaration here (EN).