Porto, Sept. 19, 2025 (Lusa) - The president of the European Council, António Costa, said on Friday that affordable housing is one of the "most urgent" challenges in the member states and a transversal concern in all European societies.
"Affordable housing has become one of the most urgent challenges in the member states and one that is essential if we are to ensure social cohesion and the sustainability of democracies in Europe," said António Costa at the Porto 2025 Social Forum.
Costa considered that nothing fuels populism more than the sense of abandonment and the lack of prospects that the new generations encounter when they look for their first home to build their lives.
In his opinion, housing is now a cross-cutting concern in all European societies, and there is no European government that doesn't have housing at the forefront of its concerns.
"The Portuguese government is, in fact, a good example," pointed out António Costa, who was joined by the Portuguese prime minister, Luís Montenegro.
Because of this concern, António Costa revealed that at the next formal meeting of the European Council, which will take place in October, there will be a debate dedicated to affordable housing.
The European Commission already has a commissioner with responsibility for housing and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced last week the presentation of the first European plan for access to affordable housing, he recalled.
"We need European solutions to a structural problem in our democracies, which affects the life expectancy of young people by postponing dreams and projects and which affects the middle classes by destabilising their professional and family lives, damaging talent retention and further aggravating Europe's demographic challenge," he said.
Costa said that the European housing plan would be an important step towards tackling the current problems.
He added: "I am confident that proposals and ideas will emerge from this conference that will inspire the European Commission to realise the final design of this European plan."
In his view, in these times of uncertainty and polarisation, we need to strengthen what has always worked in the European Union, which is social dialogue.
António Costa emphasised that there can be no decent work or quality of life without decent and fair access to housing.
Last week, at the plenary session of the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, the president of the European Commission revealed that "later this year" the first European plan for affordable housing will be presented, which was planned for 2026.
In 2023, around one in 10 Europeans spent 40% or more of their income on housing and related costs.
The European Union is facing a sharp housing crisis in countries like Portugal, where house prices and rents have risen significantly, making it difficult to reach affordable housing, especially for young people and low-income families.
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