Until now, house and rental prices haven’t been seen as a topic that the EU can tackle. While the housing crisis is a bloc-wide problem, there is no consensus on how to address it. National leaders are split along political lines and are likely to be at loggerheads when it comes to tackling real estate speculation, short-term rentals, or the expansion of public housing schemes.
In particular, putting housing on the agenda would have seemed unthinkable barely a few years ago. But the price of homes is now driving politics across the bloc — and propelling the far right to major wins. | Koen Van Weel/ANP/AFP via Getty Images
The divisions are evident in the draft summit conclusions, where leaders see the crisis as “pressing” but limit themselves to asking that the Commission present its plan as scheduled.
On the rise
The march of the populists is already very real. Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Slovakia’s Robert Fico sit at the European Council table, at times making it difficult or impossible to reach decisions by unanimity, which is often necessary. Czechia could soon join their camp, with right-wing populist Andrej Babiš having won elections earlier this month. In Slovenia, ultraconservative former Prime Minister Janez Janša’s party leads in the polls, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls.
In the EU’s two biggest and most powerful countries, France and Germany, the far right is also ascendent. Opinion polls repeatedly show Jordan Bardella of the National Rally out in front for France’s presidential elections in 2027. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) came second in parliamentary elections last year.
Defense is another topic on which the EU’s mainstream hopes to fight back.
The EU’s defense commissioner estimates that when national defense budgets and EU funds are totted up, the bloc will plow in €2.4 trillion over four years — a staggering figure compared with previous investments. This defense boom could, in theory, replace Europe’s struggling car industry, which provides nearly 14 million jobs, or about 6 percent of EU employment.
Defense is another topic on which the EU’s mainstream hopes to fight back. | Hristo Rusev/Getty Images
The topic is set to feature at the summit, with Slovakia’s Fico linking his support for new sanctions against Russia to aid for the car sector, given Slovakia’s status as the world’s top car producer per capita.