FIEC appointed as Member of “EU Platform on Sustainable Finance”
On 21 January, the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance publicly announced the 35 members appointed for its third mandate and FIEC, represented by Ms María Luísa Carrasco Martínez (Spain), the CFO at FCC Construcción, was confirmed as a representative of the construction sector.
The EU Platform on Sustainable Finance is an advisory body to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA), tasked with reviewing the technical criteria of the Taxonomy Regulation. The previous mandate officially ended in March 2025, with the new term running from February 2026 until the end of 2027.
FIEC welcomes the decision of DG FISMA and trusts its construction sector high-level experts will bring great value to the Platform on Sustainable Finance, the further development of the EU Taxonomy, as well as to improving the usability and practicality of the broader EU sustainable finance framework.
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“Construction 2050 Alliance” tables main priorities for 2026
On 20 January, the Construction 2050 Alliance met with Barbara Bonvissuto, Director at DG GROW of the European Commission, in order to exchange on some of the main EU priorities impacting the construction eco-system.
The Alliance discussed the “EU Affordable Housing Plan” and more specifically the “Housing Construction Strategy” aiming at boosting supply, mobilising investments, enabling the needed legislative reforms and providing support to the most vulnerable citizens. The meeting agenda focused also on the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) Working Plan for 2026-2029.
The participants highlighted their willingness to contribute to make the High Level Construction Forum a key platform for keeping construction high on the EU agenda. Among the other key topics, there are the forthcoming “Construction Services Act”, aiming at facilitating the mobility of companies within the EU Single Market and the “Pact for skills”, aiming at mobilising stakeholders against the problem of lack of workforce and skills gaps/mismatches.
The Alliance confirmed its support to the “Pact for skills” and invited all the concerned stakeholders to sign the Pact by clicking on this link.
| C2050 ALLIANCE |
FIEC responds to European Commission’s Consultation on the revision of EU Public Procurement rules
On 26 January, FIEC submitted its contribution to the European Commission’s Consultation (including the Call for Evidence) on the revision of the EU Public Procurement framework
For FIEC, the ultimate goal of this revision should be clear: to make the public sector an attractive, reliable and predictable client for construction works and services. This implies greater legal certainty and targeted amendments that reduce unnecessary complexity and administrative burden, while ensuring procurement delivers quality outcomes and workable projects in practice. It also means striking the right balance between predictability and flexibility — enabling contracting authorities to choose fit-for-purpose approaches without undermining competition.
- Keep the legal instrument as a Directive (not a Regulation) to preserve stability and pragmatic implementation across Member States.
- Simplification, transparency and competition: tackle the growth of direct awards and single-bid procedures; keep in-house procurement a strictly limited exception and ensure transparency through an effective digital, public and accessible informative system.
- Level playing field / “Made in Europe”: explore simple and proportionate tools without adding bureaucracy, alongside a stronger EU approach on third-country participation (reciprocity, GPA/bilateral agreements) and increased focus on state-backed operators/SOEs where distortions exist — notably for EU-co-funded projects.
- Move away from price-only decisions: support robust life-cycle costing and EU guidance on strategic procurement, while keeping criteria linked to the subject matter and avoiding rigid EU-wide mandatory thresholds.
- Deliverability and fair risk allocation: promote workable price-revision mechanisms adapted to contract duration; avoid imposing a specific BIM software (interoperability); allow variants by default and recognise unforeseeable findings during works.
- Proportionate requirements: exclusion/selection grounds should remain focused on the essence of procurement and provide legal certainty.
- Subcontracting: avoid EU over-regulation (no mandatory caps on tiers/levels, no “full chain” joint-and-several liability, no EU pre-qualification system).
FIEC participates in the hearing on “Skills Portability”
On 23 February, FIEC participated in the social partners’ hearing on the Skills Portability initiative,organised by the European Commission. This initiative, which will be part of the Fair Labour Mobility Package (expected for Q3 2026), aims to increase mobility and improve recognition of qualifications.
The hearing focused on three potential actions:
- Improved transparency of skills and qualification and digitalisation;
- Modernise and expand recognition processes for regulated professions;
- Common rules to simplify procedures for the recognition of qualifications and validation of skills of third-country nationals.
FIEC welcomes this initiative and the improvement of skills and qualification’s recognition through digitalisation. FIEC stressed that no initiative should lower the existing standards, especially regarding health and safety training.
A Public Consultation is opened until 27 February.
EEI published new business case on the use of AI in construction
In the framework of the EU-funded project, AI@Work, the European Employers’ Institute (EEI) published a new business case showcasing the use of AI by the Dutch construction and development company, Heijmans.
The factsheet presents how the company uses AI to automatically stop machinery when a person is detexted nearby. The aim of this innovation is “to prevent injuries by ensuring that indiviuals positioned behind heavy vehicles or construction equipment are not harmed“.
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