On 8 and 9 February, the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union hosted a two-day conference entitled 'Towards zero homelessness, only 6 years to succeed'. It took stock of progress made towards reaching the Lisbon Declaration’s goal and discussed the way forward.

The 'Towards zero homelessness' conference brought together representatives from EU member states, European Parliament, experts and associations actively combatting homelessness.

At the informal ministerial meeting, delegates expressed their support for the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness, welcoming the work done so far, and also stressing the need to step up efforts, political commitment, and resources to enable a future without homelessness.

The Ministers also called for a comprehensive Council Recommendation on Homelessness covering aspects from housing to mental health, from migration to LGBTIQ+ and aimed at implementing an action plan to achieve the objective of eradicating homelessness by 2030.

The Commissioner concluded the event by passing the baton to the next Commission.

The conclusions of the conference will be integrated into the declaration foreseen at the occasion of the high-level conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights in April in La Hulpe (April 2024).

Background

The 2021 Lisbon Declaration agreed to work towards the ending of homelessness by 2030 and launched the European platform on combatting homelessness.

Two years after its creation this Platform has taken decisive steps: stakeholders implemented a large range of policies to fight homelessness and many EU countries launched integrated strategies.