FIEC and EFBWW boards meet in Paris
The boards of FIEC and of the EFBWW (European Federation of Building and Wood Workers), the EU sectoral Social Partners for the construction industry, will meet today in Paris. Both organisations agreed to hold such meetings on a regular basis, in order to reinforce their commitment to Social Dialogue.
On the agenda, amongst other things: capacity building initiatives for Central and Eastern EU countries, strengthening industrial relations at EU level, “Posting” of workers, etc.
At the end of the meeting a cooperation agreement will be signed between FIEC, EFBWW and the AEIP, the EU association of paritarian institutions.
Registration Opens for Level(s) Testing Workshop
On 4 December, the European Commission is inviting key stakeholders in the construction sector to learn more about the testing phase for Level(s), a new voluntary reporting framework aimed at improving the sustainability of buildings. Level(s) is a key tool of the EU’s circular economy package that will link action taken at the building level with overarching global priorities that aim to balance the economic, social and environmental dimensions of global development. Using existing standards, Level(s) provides a common EU approach to the assessment of environmental performance in the built environment. This workshop marks the start of a two year testing phase and aims to bring together pioneering organisations. Amongst other things, they will learn about what support is available to organisations testing Level(s).As places are limited to 50 places, priority will be given to those who intend to test Level on a specific building. The registration link is available here
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Definitive agreement in sight on extension of “Juncker” Investment Plan
On 26th October, the representatives of the European Parliament and the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU resolved the final details that were still blocking a definitive agreement on doubling the duration and firepower of the “Juncker” Investment Plan. According to the information available concerning the financing of the extension of the Investment Plan, which was the most critical point for FIEC, the figures agreed in mid-September have not changed. In particular, €275 million will be taken from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and €25 million from the Marguerite energy and climate fund, sparing the “Horizon 2020” framework programme for research. Also, €150 million will be taken from the unused budgetary margins. As compensation for the CEF, it is said that the European Commission will propose a transfer of financial resources from the “financial instruments” part to the “subsidies” part of the CEF. This final deal is expected to be backed by the two institutions in the course of November.
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