The Committee on Petitions forwarded to the Greek authorities a letter in January 2005 (after an appeal by Dr K. Paschalidou, a member for almost 40 years (!) of the cooperative ‘I YGEIA’ in Saronida, Attica), but has not so far received any answer from the ministries responsible, the Ministries for the Environment and Rural Development, and a second letter which was sent last autumn concerning the appeal by another Greek building cooperative, has also failed so far to elicit an answer from th ...[+++]e Greek authorities.

49. Stresses the importance of increasing the environmental performance of buildings with energy efficient house design (insulation, renewable energy use, green roofs, passive/active solar design, low energy houses etc.); supports the use of renewable as well as, if possible, locally available energy sources in the urban environment as well as water efficient building design (conservation and re-use of rainwater, rational flush of toilets, water efficient washing machines and dishwashers); further recommends benchmarking and EU-wide sharing of best practice in improving energy efficiency, the introduction of renewable energies and progress in sustaina ...[+++]ble urban construction in general;

15. Calls on the Member States and the applicant countries to assess and if necessary to update their legislation in a sustainable way as regards rivers and water-basin management, spatial planning, infrastructure installation and house building in vulnerable areas so as to prevent similar disasters in the future; calls in particular for existing flood plains to be maintained in their natural state or for former ones to be reconstructed; calls on the Council and the Commission to take political initiatives for greater EU ...[+++]cooperation in these fields;

8. Calls on the Member States and the applicant countries to assess and if necessary to update their legislation in a sustainable way as regards rivers and water-basin management, spatial planning, infrastructure installation and house building in vulnerable areas so as to prevent similar disasters in the future; calls on the Council and the Commission to take political initiatives for greater EU cooperation in these fields;

We appreciate Mr. Gagliano's going in that direction, because this is the first time in eight years that the federal government is returning to non-profit housing co-op development, but the actual number to address seriously the affordable rental housing Donna referred to would be roughly—we've called it the 1% solution—between $1 billion and $2 billion of increased spending by the federal government and a similar amount managed by the provinces.

The 1990 Liberal caucus task force, which was co-chaired by the finance minister, recommended: more funding for affordable housing in provincial transfers; new federal-provincial programs to assist working poor with housing costs; holding a national conference on the homeless; increasing the funding of housing co-ops; looking for new ways to use housing co-ops; making surplus crown lands available below market value for low income housing; encouraging public-private partnerships to build affordable housing; and eliminating substandard aboriginal housing by 2000.