NIFHA Press Room
Impact of EU Procurement discussed with Diane Dodds MEP
Thursday 1 April 2010
The impact of the EU's procurement rules was discussed in a meeting held today with the DUP's EU representative Diane Dodds MEP.During the meeting NIFHA's Chief Executive, Chris Williamson, outlined which parts of the policy affected social housing provision in Northern Ireland. He then went on to give specific examples of its impact in NI and in other EU member states.
"Whilst we agree fair competition should exist throughout Europe the fact is that last year 2009-10 plans to build 500 of the 1,750 homes in the Social Housing Development Programme had to be scrapped. It seemed they would contravene EU procurement regulations.” Commented Chris. He went on to say: “This obviously had a detrimental effect on our members' ability to deliver much needed homes.”
After meeting with Diane Dodds MEP Chris Williamson said: “This was a useful opportunity to present the situation to one of our MEPs directly. Mrs Dodds was receptive to what was said. It is vital our MEPs work together on this matter to support social housing development in Northern Ireland and throughout the rest of Europe. On behalf of its members NIFHA, together with CECODHAS-Housing Europe (the European network for the promotion of the right to decent housing for all),will continue to press the EU Commission and Parliament for adaptations to the rules to take account of social housing’s need.”
Ends
For further information, please read NIFHA's EU Procurement Policy Briefing (April 2010)
