Saturday, March 15, 2014
Hampton (Omni Shoreham)
Homelessness can be seen as the worst form of poverty and social exclusion. The situation of homelessness is not likely to improve as a result of the economic crisis. The high rate and persistence of unemployment drives more and more people in a situation of destitution, in particular in countries without an adequate general social safety net. However, the homeless are not a single homogeneous category. The problem is highly multi-facetted. Law and policies must take this complexity into account. In our paper we will present an analytical model underlying a coherent legal infra-structure to combat homelessness. This model takes into account: a) the various grounds for legal intervention in a spectrum ranging from human rights protection to maintain public order; and b) the level of legal intervention ranging from measures at the EU level to local welfare state responsibility. As will become apparent, combatting homelessness is much more a joint European responsibility than the present lacking EU powers suggest. The research takes into account the result of three 2012-2013 research initiatives undertaken by the authors in co-operation with others: a research project carried out for the EU-Commission by Regioplan (homelessness and destitution among EU migrants), a local welfare state project carried out by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (including a four city investigation into the strength of the local welfare states in Berlin, London, Copenhagen and Athens) and a research project into homelessness and destitution carried out by the authors with students of the University of Groningen.
