Two debates have taken place in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, addressing two of the most intractable problems bedevilling Europe's urban areas in recent decades - housing and drug abuse.
On housing, there has been a persistent problem of supply failing to meet demand, especially in cities. That has been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis, which has eaten into the income available for housing, increasing demands on social housing and pushing people into homelessness.
Meanwhile, drugs have infiltrated vulnerable neighbourhoods like an invisible poison, according to Jean-Paul Vermot, Mayor of Morlaix in western France and a leading figure in this fight. This has led to criminality and even murder.
New housing developments needed
The Congress passed a housing resolution which calls for local and regional authorities to develop housing strategies based on thorough needs assessments, to promote social-housing innovations and to foster new partnerships to expand both new housing developments and the use of the existing stock.
The resolution also urged national governments to provide adequate resources and support, stressing the need to extend housing-support schemes to middle-income groups, for whom homes were becoming increasingly unaffordable. It also called for new national frameworks to address homelessness, and for the continuous monitoring of progress through measurable targets while encouraging the exchange of good practices to promote housing as a fundamental human right, vital for social justice and democratic cohesion in Europe.
That resolution came about as a result of a Congress report outlining practical strategies that Europe's local and regional governments could follow in order to invest more in social rental housing and support vulnerable groups. The report was presented by rapporteur Jimmy Moloney (Ireland, ILDG) and it highlighted the critical role of local authorities in implementing housing policies within multilevel governance systems.
"Today, we are seeing cities where more than 50% of the population has to pay more than 40% of their income for rents, while 30% would normally be recommended," Mr Moloney stated to the assembled members. "Housing is neither a commodity nor an isolated policy area but must be considered as a fundamental pillar of social inclusion and pre-condition to access employment and social services," he said.
Are drugs a trans-European problem?
In a wide-ranging debate a point that will have hit home with the members given their experience in local government is the chronic underfunding of law enforcement and the justice system, which leaves municipalities "on the front line". As a response, Lucien Colliander, Swiss representative of the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe, emphasised the importance of European cooperation and data sharing.
Mr Vermot argued that Europe had to rebuild the social fabric, support young people who have dropped out of school, and accompany users with concerted and innovative local policies. Mayor Christian Lamouline of Berchem-Sainte-Agathe in Belgium, who is also president of the Association of Brussels Municipalities, pointed to alarming drug-related crimes (since 2022 57 shootings and more than 1,200 arrests in Brussels), demonstrated the strength and mobility of transnational trafficking networks. Delegates also raised the link between drug trafficking and white-collar crime, fraud and money laundering, revealing a more insidious side to trafficking. Increasing funding for prevention and appropriate psychosocial support was also pushed as centrally important by Sarah Mackel, youth delegate from Luxembourg.
The consensus among the members was that there needed to be more support given outside the criminal-justice system, better coordination between municipalities, schools, the police and civil society, and transnational cooperation to tackle this European challenge.
Read the Congress housing recommendation in full
The Pompidou Group (drug-policy cooperation)
Autumn session of the Congress of Regional and Local Authorities
Parliamentary Assembly resolution on housing
