In a decision published on 5 March 2026, the European Committee of Social Rights (ESCR) of the Council of Europe condemned France in a case on the rights of homeless people and people living in poverty filed by the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Fondation pour le logement des défavorisés and the Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH) on 3 April 2023.
5 March 2026. The action, brought together by the complaining organisations on the basis of extensive documentation and legal analysis developed at national level by the Fondation pour le logement des défavorisés and the LDH, challenges municipal decrees that criminalise begging and the use of public spaces by homeless people and, more broadly, persons living in poverty, in breach of the European Social Charter.
In its decision on the merits, the ECSR concluded unanimously that France violated:
– Article 30 of the Charter (Right to protection against poverty and social exclusion) with regard to the proliferation of municipal decrees regulating begging;
– Article 30 of the Charter with respect to the lack of an effective remedy;
– Section E read in conjunction with section 30 of the Charter with respect to the existence of discrimination based on socio-economic status.
While the complaint concerns France, the practices examined by the European Committee of Social Rights are far from isolated. Across Europe, municipalities increasingly resort to punitive measures targeting people experiencing homelessness and poverty. Such measures have been documented in numerous Council of Europe member States and reflect a broader trend towards the criminalisation of poverty, rather than its resolution.
The Committee’s conclusions are unambiguous: "Municipal by-laws aggravate the situation of disadvantaged people who can only survive in public spaces, reinforcing their social exclusion and marginalisation."
While local authorities have a range of powers to provide assistance to people experiencing homelessness, many of them still crack down on poverty. The municipal by-laws they enact, prohibiting begging and all behaviours that may be adopted by people living on the streets (so-called "abusive and prolonged" occupation of public space, "sitting or lying down", alcohol consumption, presence of dogs even on a leash), constitute a veritable war on the poor.
To justify these measures, these municipalities cite, among other things, "tourist appeal", end-of-year festivities and events and public order. They hide behind the argument that their bans are limited in time and space and would therefore be proportionate. However, the ECSR notes that, in reality, the mayors concerned give the municipal police arbitrary powers to impose sanctions: in the vast majority of cases, repression is triggered by the mere presence of homeless people in public spaces, without their behaviour constituting any threat whatsoever.
The ECSR explains that this punitive approach is counterproductive: fines and removals obviously do not reduce homelessness or enhance public safety. On the contrary, they further isolate homeless people, particularly from places where food, healthcare, shelter, support and rest are provided, and they increase the dangers of the street.
Legal action can be taken to have municipal decrees overturned, and our organisations regularly bring cases before the courts for this purpose. However, these actions have no suspensive effect, which undermines their effectiveness. Worse still, despite being overturned, mayors simply renew them. For their part, prefects3 fail to exercise their power to review their legality.
Finally, the ECSR recognises that these decrees are discriminatory. They penalise behaviours that are intrinsic to subsistence and linked to precariousness and homelessness. They perpetuate "the myth that poor people are responsible for their situation."
The ECSR unanimously found that the proliferation of municipal decrees regulating begging in France violates the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion under Article 30 of the revised European Social Charter and its Article E prohibiting discrimination.
For our organisations, this decision should spell the end of these municipal decrees in France, which have the effect of depriving people living in poverty of the use of public space, punishing them and excluding them because of their poverty.
"... the criminalisation of subsistence activities in public spaces violates human rights."
As organisations working at European and international level, FEANTSA and FIDH stress that the decision of the European Committee of Social Rights has implications well beyond the French context. It reaffirms a clear principle: homelessness and poverty must be addressed through rights-based, non-punitive policies that ensure access to housing, social protection and support services, rather than through repression and exclusion.
A separate collective complaint concerning begging bans in Belgium is currently pending before the ECSR. The complaint was lodged in November 2023 by FIDH, together with its Belgian member organisation, the Ligues des droits humains (LDH), ATD Quart Monde International and ATD Quart Monde Belgique.
