- 3 hours ago
European Commissioner Jørgensen: Housing crisis needs 'holistic approach'
In an interview with Euronews, EU Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen calls upon investors, authorities and market players to work together to find a solution for an emergency impacting more and more EU citizens.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/11/28/eu-commissioner-housing-crisis-needs-holistic-approach
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
In an interview with Euronews, EU Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen calls upon investors, authorities and market players to work together to find a solution for an emergency impacting more and more EU citizens.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/11/28/eu-commissioner-housing-crisis-needs-holistic-approach
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to the Europe Conversation. I'm Stefan Grober.
00:12My guest today is from Denmark.
00:14Dan Jorgensen, former Minister of Climate and Energy,
00:17former member of the European Parliament for the Social Democrats,
00:20and for a year now, the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing.
00:25Welcome to the program, sir, and thanks for joining me this morning.
00:27Thank you, Stefan.
00:28So, let me start with housing.
00:30To my knowledge, there has never been a housing commissioner before you came to town.
00:36Why has Brussels discovered that topic, which is really in the domain of the member states?
00:43Well, first and foremost, it's a sign that we take serious that we are in a housing crisis.
00:49And when the demand for political action is there,
00:52then it's only natural that we also, in Brussels, take action.
00:56And also, if you look at what happened last year in the European Parliament elections,
01:02actually, housing was, if not number one, then certainly at the top of the agenda in most European countries.
01:10I wish it wasn't necessary, because I wish we were not in a housing crisis.
01:15Unfortunately, we are.
01:16So, we need to do more to rectify that situation.
01:20Well, on this topic, of course, the crisis, as you call it.
01:25I mean, there have always been ups and downs on the real estate market.
01:28Why is it different this time?
01:31Some people, you say it's a crisis.
01:33Other people say it's an emergency.
01:36Yeah, well, I might be tempted to also call it an emergency.
01:39I can certainly see why for the individuals that are not able to find a home,
01:45if you don't have roof over your head, certainly for them it is an emergency.
01:49At a societal level, we speak about a crisis, because it's clear that looking at the numbers,
01:57we simply have an unbalance between the supply and the demand in housing.
02:03This means that the prices on rent goes up.
02:07It means that we have a shortage of houses in many, many cities.
02:13And that, again, then has the consequence that normal people, so teachers, nurses, police officers,
02:21are no longer able to work where they serve.
02:24This is, of course, for society not a good thing, and for the individual, it's pretty much an emergency.
02:31Can you name a few reasons?
02:32Sure.
02:33No, so it's clear that one of the problems that we face is short-term rentals.
02:38So, short-term rentals, as such, is a good thing.
02:41It's good that we're able to travel and visit each other.
02:43If you live in a home that's expensive for you, maybe it's...
02:47So we're talking about Airbnb.
02:48Yeah, yeah.
02:48Maybe what makes it possible for you to stay there is that you can rent it out sometimes and get that income.
02:53But when it's happening in a more systematic way, where instead of actually having homes,
03:02these normal people having homes, these houses are bought up
03:06and then only used for Airbnb or some other platform, short-term rentals.
03:12Then it crowds out normal housing.
03:15This is a huge problem in many cities.
03:18You will also hear cities talking about over-tourism.
03:21Now, tourism is a good thing, of course.
03:22It brings income, and it's good for cultural reasons.
03:25But it's not good if it actually felt like it's ruining the lives of the people that live in these cities.
03:32And one of the consequences, unfortunately, is that the prices on the housing goes up significantly.
03:39So we have the short-term rentals.
03:41We have the increase of housing prices.
03:43Why is there no keeping up with construction and strengthening the offer?
03:50One of the things that we try to do is look at how can Europe help boost construction of more houses.
03:59Now, there's a lot of red tape in this sector, a lot of bureaucracy,
04:03and we want to simplify the rules, make it easier, looking at permitting, for instance,
04:08so that this process can go faster.
04:10Also, there's a lot of speculation, so the financialization of the sector.
04:15Housing is considered by many investors as a commodity.
04:20So you'll place your money there in the hope of making money.
04:23Now, I don't mind people making money.
04:26It's a good thing in a market.
04:27It can also drive investments.
04:29But we also have to acknowledge that when that is the case,
04:33then maybe the investments that are being made are not necessarily made on behalf of society.
04:39It doesn't necessarily lead to the best result for society as a whole,
04:42even though the persons, people, companies making the investments might make money short-term.
04:47So can we do something about this?
04:51First step, of course, is to get an overview.
04:53Just how bad is the situation?
04:55How much of it can be dealt with on a national level?
04:58How much of it do we need to deal with on a European level?
05:01You mentioned over-tourism.
05:03That certainly concerns cities like Venice, Barcelona, Amsterdam.
05:08But the crisis is elsewhere, too.
05:10Midsized towns, rural areas.
05:13Is that just a trickle-down effect, or are there other powers at work here?
05:18Yeah, so I'm very cautious not to try and give one explanation,
05:22because if there's one thing that I've learned the last year going to many, many countries, cities, regions,
05:28it is that the situation is really different from city to city, region to region, country to country.
05:34But the crisis also shows itself in the fact that many young people are not able to leave their parents' homes when they want to.
05:45So the average age of young people leaving their parents' nest is going up.
05:51Now, if you're living with your parents because you like it and they like it, then fine.
05:56I personally, I was 19 when I was 19.
05:59The chances are that most young people prefer something else.
06:01I was 19 when I left.
06:03I really love my parents, and I think it goes both ways.
06:05But we were ready for me to leave.
06:07But, you know, it's very...
06:09Did you have your own room?
06:10I did, I did, I did.
06:12It's very normal that the age is around 30 or something like that.
06:15That means a lot of things.
06:16It means that maybe you cannot really start the family life that you want.
06:19You cannot get the education or the job or the training that you want.
06:23So, again, on the individual level, it's very, very bad, of course.
06:26But also for society, it's just the fact that we don't have the mobility that we need in the labor market, for instance,
06:36that people don't get the education that they really want and we as a society need them to get, that's really bad.
06:42So, we need to also look specifically at housing for young people, student housing, housing for young people that are in training.
06:50So, you travel a lot across Europe.
06:52Sure.
06:53And then the housing commissioner comes to town, the mayor greets them.
06:58Yes.
06:58What do the mayors tell you?
07:00What do they want from you?
07:01Yes.
07:02So, many mayors point to the fact that we have two stringent rules on state aid.
07:09So, where are the state actually allowed to go in and support the building of new affordable housing or social housing?
07:18Now, some might say, why is it that the EU even has an opinion on what goes on in a member state, what they support or don't support?
07:25But this is because of the internal market.
07:26It actually does make sense that we have rules for what you can support and not support.
07:30But we have to admit that in the situation that we're in now and the way the rules are now, they are way too strict.
07:37So, we need to transform them.
07:39They also say, listen, we need more investments.
07:42Can you help us get the investments in there that can spark this transition that we need?
07:49I don't think anybody believes that it should be public money, whether it's national money or EU money, that will solve this crisis.
07:56But we can use EU funding, for instance, where the market will not deliver.
08:02Or maybe we can use funding for de-risking investments so that one euro of public funding, whether it's national or European money,
08:11will actually mean that we have four or five or even ten euros of investments.
08:15I guess the people who are looking for a home don't care whether money is private or public.
08:22So, you hear the complaints of the mayors.
08:26What do you tell them?
08:28So, I tell them many things, obviously.
08:31One, first, I try not to tell them anything but listen.
08:35Because really, for us to do the right thing, the analysis needs to be right.
08:38But, two, then I can actually point to some things that I can already now tell them this is what we need.
08:45Cut the red tape and the bureaucracy.
08:48Change the state aid rules so that it becomes easier to build affordable housing and social housing in the member states.
08:55Work on a pan-European investment platform together with the EIB to make sure that we boost investments.
09:01We need to also look at student housing.
09:05So, the young people of our societies that are struggling the most, how can we help them?
09:12Homelessness.
09:13We have more than one million people that are homeless in Europe.
09:16Again, many of the things that you can do to tackle homelessness is probably going to have to be something that you do on a national level.
09:25But, that doesn't mean that we cannot help each other.
09:27That doesn't mean that we cannot also share best practices and look at what has worked in one country.
09:33And, maybe we can then help that that will happen in a different country.
09:36So, all of these things I will try and put into one holistic plan that I will present before Christmas.
09:45Yeah.
09:45I was just going to say, I know that you're working on a plan.
09:48Yes.
09:48Can you tell us a few elements, a few principles, pillars of it, so that people can have a little bit of hope?
09:58Sure.
09:59So, yeah, what we're trying to do is, of course, to have a holistic approach.
10:03And, this means that there will be things that we can do on a European level.
10:06Yes.
10:07Good.
10:07That's my responsibility.
10:09But, there will also be things where we say, okay, well, we can do something on a European level, but we need to do it in collaboration with member states.
10:14And, then, finally, there will be things where I will have to say, this, I really think member states should do.
10:20It's not my competency to force them to do it or even give the incentives, but my recommendation is that you do it.
10:27Look, here's a best practice.
10:28Why don't you copy that?
10:30Now, on the things that we can do from a European level, certainly the state aid rules are too strict as they are now.
10:35We need to loosen them.
10:37We need to make it possible for member states to actually support affordable housing.
10:42We need to look at permitting rules, rules that are just simply too bureaucratic.
10:49Maybe they were made for a good reason a decade ago, but today now we are in a crisis.
10:54We need to build more faster.
10:56So, that is a necessity.
10:58And, then, what can be done on a European level to get more investments?
11:03Because, really, it's a paradox that there's actually not a lack of money out there in the markets wanting to be invested.
11:10I mean, the institutional investors are there.
11:13They are looking for long-term investments that will bring them back a steady revenue.
11:18And, the housing sector is actually pretty good at that, seen from an investor's perspective.
11:24So, why isn't it happening?
11:25Well, there's some uncertainties in the markets.
11:27And, maybe, we can also help de-risk those investments.
11:32We can certainly help bring the investors and the ones who need the investments together.
11:38And, that's what we're trying to do with the pan-European investment platform that we're making together with the European Investment Bank.
11:44Are you in favor of caps on rent?
11:48No, I'm not in favor of the European Union setting caps on rent.
11:54Again, this is also one of the areas where we need to be a little bit cautious that we don't think we can run everything from Brussels.
12:01There needs to be the room also for making decisions nationally and even locally.
12:07But, I am in favor of doing whatever I can from Brussels to make sure that the rent go down, the price of the mortgage go down, the cost of living in a house go down.
12:18Because, we have to remember, it's not only how much you pay either as a rent or in form of a mortgage.
12:26It's also how expensive it is to live in the home for other reasons like energy, for instance.
12:32So, for most people, the second biggest bill that they will pay, apart from the rent, will be for energy.
12:38I'm also responsible for energy in the Commission.
12:40So, hopefully, my plan will also reflect that in that we need a holistic approach where we also try and bring down the prices of energy.
12:5247 million people last year were not able to adequately heat their homes in Europe.
12:56This is really, for me, a very, very serious situation and totally unacceptable.
13:02Basically, if you're not able to heat your home, it means that you have to choose between, do you want to buy food or do you want to freeze?
13:09All of these developments that you've described are known for many years.
13:17We could see this coming.
13:20Why hasn't been done anything until now?
13:22So, I'm not sure I would agree with you 100% there.
13:27So, I served 10 years in the European Parliament and 10 years after that, member of the Danish Parliament, minister and so on.
13:37So, I've been to hundreds, maybe even thousands.
13:40I haven't counted meetings on the EU, in city halls, in schools, everywhere.
13:48And I can honestly tell you, until a few years ago, I didn't have one question on housing.
13:54It was always the environment, climate, how do we fight crime, you know, all of these issues that are usually top of the agenda when speaking about EU policy.
14:08I would say, actually, even certainly in my own country, a few years back, there would even be an opposition against the EU even dealing with housing because people would say that's a national competency.
14:18So, I'm not saying there hasn't been problems and challenges before, and I actually share the analysis that had we done something 10 years or 20 years ago, we wouldn't be in this situation now.
14:29I'm just saying that it hasn't really been that high on the political agenda before.
14:32Now we see the problems, and now we then have to act.
14:37I don't think anybody expects the EU, Brussels, to solve all problems in all member states.
14:43Of course not. But we do need to work together when we see a crisis that really is to be found in all member states.
14:52And as I've explained a few times here today, there are also quite concrete things that we need to do and that we will do.
15:00Let's look ahead now.
15:02So, Brussels is aware of the problem of the national governments, state governments, local authorities, the mayors.
15:10So, everybody knows what's going on. How do you think the situation will look like in, say, five years?
15:18Are we heading towards a, you know, improvement of the situation? There could be many factors, demographic, economic, etc.
15:25Oh, well, it can go different ways. I mean, if we don't do anything, I think these problems will be even bigger.
15:31They're not going to solve themselves. So, there's a need for political action.
15:38And I'm an optimist, and I think certainly the fact that we have now identified this to also be a European problem
15:47means that we set it very high on the agenda also here in the EU and in the European Commission.
15:53I think many people noticed that President von der Leyen in her State of the Union spoke about the housing,
16:02not just mentioned in a sentence. She spoke at length about the housing crisis and called it a social crisis.
16:08This is a testament to the fact that we in the European Commission really take this serious.
16:14And I can also say that when working on this plan, there's been a lot of engagement from the European Parliament.
16:20They've set up an ad hoc committee to work with this, and also my colleagues internally in the Commission,
16:25because it's important to say that if we are to solve the housing problems,
16:31there's not just one area where you just fix it. You have to look at investments.
16:40You have to look at energy. You have to look at social policies.
16:43You have to look at internal market policies, state aid rules.
16:47So, there's so many things that need to be dealt with in a holistic and combined approach
16:55that if we don't do that, then I fear we will not solve the problems.
16:59But as I said, I am actually quite optimistic because I see the willingness to act.
17:05I have one more question on something totally different.
17:08Yes.
17:09You know, it always brings me joy when I come across people in Brussels who write books.
17:16Now, you have written about a dozen or so, and I looked at them, and one title got my attention.
17:25It's in Danish.
17:26In 2009, I know, the English translation is between Mars and Venus, the role of the EU in the future world order.
17:35So, that was a few years back.
17:38Where are we headed, towards Mars or Venus in 2021?
17:42Well, so this refers to, of course, the fact that back then, it was a very normal way of characterizing the U.S. versus the EU,
17:51that the U.S. were from Mars, hard power, weapons, conflict.
17:56It's a caricature, but that's how it was described, whereas the EU, we were more diplomacy, soft power.
18:04So, probably today it's not even politically correct to say that that's Venus and that's Mars and that's feminine and that's masculine,
18:11but nonetheless, that's how it's been depicted often in academia.
18:14And my point then was, listen, yes, the EU should continue to be a soft power,
18:20and soft power very often will be the best way of influencing other countries and regions in the world by showing the good example,
18:28by making rules, by using diplomacy, all of these things, and we are still doing that.
18:34But already then, I argued, hmm, we also need to be able to protect ourselves.
18:40So, sometimes you need hard power.
18:42So, that's why it's not either Venus or Mars, it's in between Venus and Mars.
18:46And I will say, unfortunately, that analysis turned out to be even more correct than I thought.
18:54But I will even say, I certainly did not see or foresee how serious a situation we will end up in now with Russia
19:06and with also the complications in NATO.
19:13But on the other hand, I will also say we have acted fast.
19:16The European Union is now also engaged in defence collaboration, much closer than we've been before.
19:25We're still also using soft power in the sense that we are the biggest contributor with development aid in the world.
19:33We are active in multilateralism, the Green Transition, the COP meetings,
19:39when nations get together and discuss what to do about climate change, EU takes leadership.
19:44And that's soft power.
19:47All right. Fascinating conversation.
19:49Dan Jörgen is an EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing.
19:51Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Be the first to comment