MEP Giuseppe Antoci (The Left) has called on the European Commission to address the worsening housing crisis for young people in Sicily, warning that high rents, a shortage of affordable housing, and the spread of short-term tourist rentals are forcing students to drop out and driving young workers to leave the region. In a parliamentary question submitted on 13 July 2026, Antoci urged the Commission to push for more effective use of EU funds—particularly from the Cohesion Fund and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)—to support the construction, redevelopment, and renovation of housing for students and young workers in Sicily and other lagging regions.
He also asked whether the Commission has assessed the impact of short-term rentals on housing accessibility in Sicily's main university towns—Palermo, Catania, and Messina—and what initiatives it plans to help local authorities balance tourism development with the need for affordable housing and territorial cohesion. The question contains concrete requests for EU action on funding allocation and regulatory assessment, reflecting a push for stronger EU intervention in regional housing policy. The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks, and its answer will signal its stance on using cohesion policy to address demographic and social challenges in disadvantaged areas.