The Council of the European Union, with Germany opposing and Hungary abstaining, has adopted a regulation allowing the extension of financial support from the European Regional Development Fund for housing interventions for extremely poor and marginalized communities, including many Roma communities.
On April 26, 2010, the Council of the European Union adopted a regulation allowing the extension of financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for housing interventions for extremely poor and marginalized communities, including many Roma communities (6/10 + 7964/10 ADD 1). The decision was taken, without debate, at the General Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg. Germany voted against the regulation, and Hungary abstained.
The aim is to promote the inclusion of Roma and other marginalized people by providing them with acceptable housing conditions. Today, some 8 million EU citizens are Roma—more than the combined population of several member states. Many Roma live in abject poverty, without proper access to housing and other basic infrastructure.
The new regulation extends housing interventions eligible for ERDF support to the renovation of houses in rural areas and to the replacement of houses, irrespectively of the area (urban or rural). The current ERDF allows only housing interventions in urban areas and the renovation of existing houses, thereby excluding many of the poorest communities in the EU. The regulation reflects a first-reading agreement between the Council and the European Parliament.
The EU support to housing expenditure can reach a maximum of 3% of the ERDF allocation for each operational program, as long as it does not exceed 2% of the total ERDF allocation (which is about EUR 198.77 billion in the period 2007-2013). Member states must cofinance the EU up to a level of 50%, the cofinancing rate depending of the measure.
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