FIEC Newsletter – 08 Μαρτίου 2022

In the framework of EU funded project Construction Blueprint, the partners recently launched a questionnaire whose results will be analysed at national and European level.

The main objective of this questionnaire is to identify the relevant occupational profiles and their needed skills in relation to Energy Efficiency, Digitalisation and Circular Economy in the EU Member States. The questionnaire targets SMEs, policy stakeholders (e.g. public authorities, local actors) and educational stakeholders.

The questionnaire is accessible here and can be filled in until 15 March 2021.

On 28 February, the experts of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance presented their report on Social taxonomy. The aim of the proposed EU Social Taxonomy is to help the finance sector making best-practice investment decisions with regard to social values. The recommendations presented in the report build on internationally agreed norms like the international bill of human rights, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Taking the Environmental Taxonomy as a role model, the envisaged Social Taxonomy report would keep the same structure: setting social objectives; defining types of substantial contribution; defining criteria to respect the “Do Not Significant Harm” principle; and indicating minimum safeguards.
The three main objectives developed are: decent work (including value chain workers), adequate living standards and well-being for end-users, inclusive and sustainable communities and societies. Under these main objectives, the report elaborates a series of sub-objectives which cover a wide range of fields: labour rights, social protection and inclusion, non-discrimination, right to health care, housing, education and food, consumer protection, fight against corruption, etc.
While the overall tone of this report is very optimistic concerning the future implemention of these proposed principles, a few concerns are also raised. For instance, a social taxonomy cannot be based on scientific evidence as it is the case for the environmental taxonomy and it will be more difficult to develop quantifiable criteria. Moreover, a social taxonomy would come in addition to the reporting and disclosure requirements already faced by companies. For SMEs in particular, reporting in line with a detailed social taxonomy could impose a disproportionate burden. Last but not least, many of the objectives of a social taxonomy would go beyond EU responsibilities. In the social area, many issues are predominantly set at the national level, including the industrial relations system. Hence, imposing prescriptive and detailed objectives could be inappropriate.
At present, the ball is in the hands of the European Commission who needs to decide on the next steps.

At the end of February, the European Parliament took further steps to implement the proposed Renovation Wave. Member of Parliament (MEP) Niels Fuglsang submitted his draft report on the revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. The EED is one of the numerous files affecting the construction sector by setting requirements for Member States’ buildings policies. According to the European Commission’s initial proposal, Member States would be obliged to deeply renovate at least 3% of the total floor area of buildings owned by public bodies. MEP Fuglsang proposes to extend this obligation to tertiary buildings such as schools or hospitals. FIEC supports this level of ambition highlighting the importance of bold steps from the client side.

SAVE THE DATE! On 24 March (from 10h00 to 12h00) the Construction 2050 Alliance is  hosting  a new online event with special focus on ‘’Sustainable access to primary and secondary raw materials’’.Registrations are open and you can register online at the following link: 

Counting on sectorial experts and EU guest speakers, the initiative casts light and tables a debate on a series of policy highlights such as those related to the Renovation Wave, the European Green Deal and the EU climate action, and zooms in factual topics, as well as key dossiers and challenges related to the green transition.

Further details and updates are available on the #EUConstruction2050 Website:

Click on read more to download the programme.