Housing in JESSICA Operations

Urban areas play a crucial role in increasing the European Union(EU)’s worldwide competitiveness, as they are home to the majority of jobs, firms and higher education institutions and are decisive in bringing about social cohesion. Over half of all European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)Operational Programmes (OPs) contain an explicit urban dimension, while around one quarter of all OPs have introduced specific urban priority axes. In the 2007-2013 ERDF OPs, three groups of measures with a specific urban focus can be identified. These aim at the regeneration of deprived and disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods, the promotion of sustainable urban development and the promotion of a more balanced and polycentric development.Housing is a very complex and cross-cutting issue linked to all aspects of sustainable urban development such as social inclusion, poverty reduction and the promotion of energy efficiency and environmental performance of urban areas. However, despite its major role in sustainable urbandevelopment, the housing component has not been addressed in most of JESSICA Operations implemented to date. It should be remembered that even though the housing sector fits perfectly into the objectives of the JESSICA initiative, (which are to promote sustainable investment,growth and jobs in Europe’s urban areas), outside the exceptions allowed under Article 7 of the ERDF Regulation, pure housing investments are only possible with additional co-investment outside the OP resources.