EMPL Presentation

Imagine growing up in a somewhat unknown city, but as you grow older, your city starts to become a tourist destination. Every summer, thousands of people flood the streets to visit that one spot everyone wants to see. However, as you mature and begin to look for an apartment or buy a house, you find that prices are much higher than they were when you were younger. You start asking yourself how this is possible and discover that large companies have taken ownership of a significant number of apartments, renting them out to tourists on platforms like Airbnb. Because many available residential spaces now serve as holiday rentals, and your income is much lower than that of tourists, you can't afford the extremely high rental prices and decide to move out of the city where you grew up.

This is precisely the problem that the EMPL committee is addressing in this year's MEP session: the loss of authenticity due to locals leaving certain areas. Culture and authenticity deeply rooted in a city or village are being displaced by rising rent prices.

The reason apartment prices are so high is the high demand for places where tourists can stay during their holidays, creating a market for large businesses to profit from. The term for these apartments, such as those used on Airbnb, is STRs (Short-term rentals). Due to the large number of STRs, there are fewer places available for residents to live on a long-term basis.

Tourism is a significant contributor to a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and national income. All countries benefit economically from tourism, but those most popular during holidays, such as Croatia, Greece, and Portugal, profit the most. Our host country for this MEP EuroMed conference, Spain, derives 14.5% of its GDP from tourism. Some countries rely heavily on tourism as an income source, such as island nations like the Maldives. In Europe, Croatia leads in tourist income, contributing 25.8% of its GDP in 2023.

EU member states have jurisdiction over property ownership and housing policies, making it challenging for the European Union to directly intervene. However, they make efforts to assist through programs like InvestEU, which aims to bridge investment gaps in projects such as affordable housing and infrastructure updates.

The committee faces the challenge of ensuring long-term residents have affordable housing, protecting these popular spots from losing their authenticity, while also benefiting from tourism.