The European Commission will seek to intervene in an area that, until now, has been under the full control of Member States, but where governments and local authorities have failed: short-term rentals. In an interview in Brussels, the Commissioner responsible for Housing, Dan Jørgensen, from Denmark, stated, as quoted by Expresso, that he sees room for the EU Executive to propose rules to try to address "a major problem in many cities."

For now, he refuses to provide details on the proposals on the table, but guarantees that he will "present policies," including legislative ones, to address the consequences of the increase in this type of rental, often through platforms like Booking.com and Airbnb, which have been identified as a factor in the decrease in the number of homes available for long-term, affordable rentals, including in Portugal.

"We must recognize that the situation is so serious that we now have a social crisis in Europe," said Dan Jørgensen, noting that we need to "wake up" and "take responsibility," and this applies not only to central government and the regions, but also to the European Union (EU), with a new role for the European Commission. "If we, as politicians, don't take this problem seriously, don't recognize that it's a social problem that requires action, then the anti-EU populists will win," he argues, promising to "ensure that tenants' rights are taken seriously."