The social democrat Carlos Moedas has assumed the vice-presidency of the newly established advisory council, called the House Advisory Board, as announced by the Lisbon City Council. The council noted that Moedas is the only mayor included in the group created by the European Commission.
This new advisory body is tasked with defining the European Commission’s strategy and approach to addressing the housing crisis, along with the guidelines for actions to be taken at the European level, within the framework of a Plan for Affordable Housing to be implemented across Europe.
Comprised of 15 members, the advisory council includes some of Europe’s leading housing experts, as well as senior political figures from various countries.
The Lisbon City Council further highlighted that Carlos Moedas’ selection for this vice-presidential role in the European body “represents recognition of the model he developed for housing in Lisbon, with a historic investment exceeding 900 million euros by 2028, along with a set of short-term actions to support families and youth.”
“Carlos Moedas’ extensive European experience, having served as European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science from 2014 to 2019,” also contributed to his selection, emphasized the Lisbon municipality.
Quoted in the statement, the Mayor of Lisbon stressed the need for a coordinated European response to the housing crisis, asserting that “cities must be at the center of decision-making.”
“For Lisbon to be the only city represented in this body is unparalleled recognition of the path we are on. In this term, we have already delivered more than 2,660 homes, supported 1,230 families with rent payments, and are rehabilitating more than 400 buildings in municipal neighborhoods,” stated Carlos Moedas. He noted that the Lisbon municipality implements “entirely innovative” measures such as providing housing for police officers (PSP) and reviving housing cooperatives that have been inactive for over 25 years.
The mayor underscored that Lisbon has a combination of short- and medium-term housing measures that “is unique in Europe.”
According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the new advisory council will develop a European Plan for Affordable Housing to analyze all causes of the crisis and help execute the necessary public and private investments.
