Ficha informativa sobre o parecer 

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS



 finds it completely unacceptable that in 2014 people are still risking their health and lives by living on the street in our communities. The fact that we have some 3 million homeless people, who are supported by social welfare systems but in many cases are off their radar or are inadequately protected by them, is unworthy of the EU;



 points out that every Member State should have a national homelessness strategy, possibly complemented by regional strategies, clearly identifying responsibilities for data collection, monitoring and implementation; therefore calls on the Member States to draw up comprehensive homelessness strategies, which should include a definition of national services to deal with the problem, together with a definition of clear and transparent objectives that are binding upon them with regard to the EU, as well as evaluation models so that the results of each EU Member State's strategy can be assessed transparently;



 points out that Member States and in particular local and regional authorities are directly responsible for dealing with homelessness; however, while keeping the subsidiarity principle in mind, the European Commission can play a stronger role in developing policies, establishing cooperation at European level, and disseminating best practices;



 reiterates its call for a European social housing action framework;



 states that poverty and homelessness are not crimes. In view of this, criminalisation of homeless people in some Member States together with the introduction and application of socially insensitive local rules in violation of human rights is an affront to the principle of equal treatment and to human dignity.