Lisbon, June 30, 2025 (Lusa) - The mayor of Lisbon, Portugal's capital city, Carlos Moedas (PSD), has been appointed by the European Commission to an advisory board dedicated to housing in Europe, which began work on Monday and aims to define a strategy to respond to the housing crisis.
Social Democrat Carlos Moedas took over the vice-presidency of the new advisory board, called the House Advisory Board, the Lisbon city council revealed in a statement, indicating that the Portuguese mayor "is the only mayor to be included" in the group created by the European Commission.
The new advisory body's mission is to define the European Commission's strategy and approach to responding to the housing crisis, as well as the guidelines that will define the actions to be taken at European level, within the scope of an Affordable Housing Plan to be applied throughout Europe.
Made up of 15 members, the advisory board includes some of Europe's leading experts on housing, as well as senior politicians from various countries.
In a statement, the Lisbon city council also said that the choice of Carlos Moedas to take on the vice-presidency of this European body "represents recognition of the model he has developed for housing in Lisbon, with a historic investment of over €900 million by 2028, as well as a set of short-term actions to support families and young people".
"Carlos Moedas' vast European experience also contributed to his choice, having been European Commissioner [for Research, Innovation and Science] between 2014 and 2019," emphasised the Lisbon municipality.
Quoted in the note, the mayor of Lisbon highlighted the need for a coordinated response at European level to respond to the housing crisis, considering that "cities have to be at the centre of the decision".
"For Lisbon to be the only city represented on this body is a unique recognition of the journey we are making. In this term of office we have already delivered more than 2,660 homes, supported 1,230 families to pay their rent, and we are rehabilitating more than 400 buildings in municipal neighbourhoods," stressed Carlos Moedas, noting that the local authority of Lisbon has "totally innovative" measures such as making homes available to police officers, or housing cooperatives, which have been stalled for more than 25 years.
The mayor emphasised that Lisbon has a combination of short and medium-term measures in the area of housing 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 Affordable Housing Plan, to analyse all the causes of the crisis and help bring about the necessary public and private investment.
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