FIEC Newsletter – 20 Ιανουαρίου 2026

“The Cyprus Presidency will work with determination to give new momentum to the European edifice and contribute substantially to the next step in our common journey” – said Nikos Christodoulides, President of the Republic of Cyprus.

The construction industry is positioned as a key delivery sector for EU priorities: Energy security, housing, climate adaptation, competitiveness and cohesion. At the same time, it will face higher sustainability expectations, skills challenges and pressure to deliver faster and cheaper, while benefiting from potential regulatory simplification and stable EU funding.

Based on the official programme, FIEC published a comprehensive overview on the main presidency’s priorities, with a direct or indirect impact on the construction industry. Read full article online via this link.

Click on the below tab to view the presidency programme and published priorities.

On 16 December, the European Commission presented its first-ever plan for affordable housing, in a broad package, mixing a few concrete measures with many recommendations to national, regional and local authorities.The package includes the following main elements:

In a Press Release published on 17 December 2025, FIEC welcomed this Plan, especially its accompanying Strategy dedicated to increasing the productivity of the construction industry. Indeed, the current housing shortage is massive and the construction industry has a prominent role to play to solve the matter. FIEC believes that, together, this Strategy and the Plan can truly make a difference and help building and renovating more affordable and sustainable homes for EU citizens by simplifying, digitalising and accelerating permitting procedures, boosting the uptake of innovative construction products and methods, creating a real market for circular economy in construction, enhancing skills for the twin transition and ensuring fair mobility for construction workers and of course, unlocking the necessary public and private investment.

FIEC has actively advocated for these priorities and therefore stands ready to further work with the European Commission, Member States, cities, financial institutions and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that housing affordability is restored for EU citizens.

Read or download FIEC’s Summary on the EU Affordable Housing Plan via the below tab.

On 13 January, the European Commission (DG GROW – Industry and Internal Market) gathered cross-sectoral and sectoral social partners for a hearing on social-related aspects of public procurement, whereas a revision of the current EU rules on Public Procurement shall be presented later in 2026 (Q2 2026).The hearing revolved around 4 main issues. On whether the price-only award criterion shall be dropped to the benefit of the Best Price-Quality Ratio (BPQR), FIEC stressed that the BPQR is the best option to fight against abnormally low tenders. However, the price will always remain a necessary neutral criterion and therefore cannot be abandoned. On whether the link to the subject-matter shall be loosened to include more social and environmental criteria at the award phase, FIEC made clear that the link to the subject-matter is a fundamental principle to ensure the public procurement is fair and efficient.

Moreover, the current rules already allow contracting authorities to take social and environmental aspects into account. On whether contracting authorities shall have the right – or even obligation – to require companies to have a collective agreement in place to be awarded a public contract, FIEC pointed out that, in all Member States where there is no sectoral collective agreements which are universally applicable, such requirement would be discriminatory, especially to SMEs, and counteract the freedom of entering into negotiations.

Finally, on whether subcontracting shall be restricted and how in EU public procurement law, FIEC recalled that limiting the number of tiers of subcontracting at the EU level is not the right approach. At the national level there are already tools/instruments for ensuring transparency in the sub-contracting chain and therby fighting against fraudulent practices. Such national tools/measures include for instance sectoral social ID cards, business registers (on site or online), prequalification systems, etc, as well as limitations in the levels of sub-contracting in some countries.

A Public Consultation is running in parallel until 26 January. The forthcoming revision is expected to address the current EU’s objectives of simplification, sustainability, resilience and European preference

On 13 January, the European Commission launched its Public Consultation on the Construction Services Act. The consultation questionnaire targets construction services recipients and providers. It focuses on:

The consultation is opened until 20 April, 2026.

On 5 January, the European Commission launched a Call for Evidence for the previously announced initiative on a Fair Labour Mobility package.
According to the consultation document, the European Commission confirms that the forthcoming package, to be published towards mid-2026, is expected to cover:

In addition to these initiatives, the European Commission intends to address the following issues:

FIEC is preparing an in depth reply to this Call for Evidence. The deadline for contribution is 2 February 2026.