FIEC Newsletter – 18 Οκτωβρίου 2022

On Wednesday, 12th October, the Platform on Sustainable Finance (PSF) held its 26th and last plenary meeting of its mandate, which officially ends at the end of the month.Among other things, the Platform decided to adopt additional recommendations for technical screening criteria for sectors such as forestry, agriculture, or construction in the context of the draft Environmental delegated act that will cover the four remaining environmental taxonomy objectives.

The additional recommendations will be part of a second “Tax04 report” that will soon be sent to the European Commission. For construction, these additional recommendations focus on “demolition of buildings and other structures” and the “use of concrete in civil engineering works”.

The Commission thanked subgroups 4 and 5 of the Platform for their excellent reports on “data and usability” and the “minimum social safeguards”. Both were published on 11th October.

FIEC would like to thank Pekka Vuorinen, its representative in the Platform, for his hard work over the past two years.

In its efforts for setting up the framework for the reconstruction of Ukraine, FIEC met with the Ambassador of the Mission of Ukraine to the EU, Mr. Vsevolod Chentsov, on Tuesday October 11th.

During the meeting, FIEC once again condemned Russia’s attacks against Ukraine and reiterated its willingness to assist Ukraine in its reconstruction effort by means of its Task Force “Ukraine”, run in cooperation with the EIC (European International Contractors).

FIEC has continuously engaged with several Ukrainian representatives since the war began, including a a delegation from the municipality of Irpin in late June, and intends to continue this dialogue in the coming months.

During the last meeting of the ECCREDI council, the participants exchanged among others on the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine on the construction sector.ECCREDI members and observers then exchanged on ongoing activities and initiatives (for example, a presentation of the LIFE programme was given by a representative of CINEA).

In addition, the ECCREDI secretariat, members and observers celebrated the retirement of Mr. Jan Van der Putten, former Secretary General of EFCA.

On 3th October, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) in the European Parliament adopted its opinion on the proposal for a recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).In its opinion, the ENVI committee generally calls for the use of “adequate” nature-based and healthier construction materials to improve the energy performance of buildings. It also calls for turning parts of the EU building stock in temporary carbon sinks, for example by adding recycled and nature-based solution elements such as wood materials.

In addition, the ENVI speaks out in favour of the introduction of a harmonised EU methodology for the calculation of the whole life-cycle global warming potential of buildings, including embodied carbon.

Five years after the introduction of this methodology, Member States should introduce maximum limits on the total cumulative life-cycle global warming potential that are allowed in new buildings, according to the ENVI.

The ENVI is an opinion-giving committee, meaning that there is no obligation for the “lead” Industry and Energy committee (ITRE) to take into account the ENVI report.

On 11th October, the Stakeholders’ Group of the European Labour Authority (ELA) held its 6th meeting in the ELA premises in Bratislava. As member of the Stakeholders’ Group, FIEC was present on site. ELA’s Director General Cosmin Boiangiu, together with his team, reported on the latest developments and achievements within the Authority.Amongst many things, the Authority is working on a web hub that would aggregate all relevant EU and national information on the posting of workers, including sectoral aspects. This is expected to make companies’ life easier in finding the information they need.

In 2023, the Authority will also dedicate a series of activities to the construction sector: surveys, studies, joint inspections, workshops, etc… And as a highlight, a communication campaign on “posting of workers”, to raise awareness of workers and companies concerning the good and bad practices. The EU sectoral social partners for the construction industry, FIEC and EFBWW, as well as their respective affiliates, will be closely involved in the preparatory phase of all these activities.

The EU High Level Construction Forum is proposing two Webinars focused on innovation of the sector. Experts from the Construction Unit of the European Commission, together with speaker and guest representatives from the industry, will talk about data collection and sharing, the new frontier of robots and 3D-printing, as well as the opportunities and challenges posed by space, The aim for these two webinars is to identify technologies that have the potential to advance the digital and green transition of the construction ecosystem. In addition, the meetings will facilitate an exchange on challenges and needs in regard to research and innovation, the uptake of technologies and the transfer of technology from research to market.