FIEC and EFBWW call for fair mobility thanks to SME-friendly digital solutions
On 13th October, FIEC and the EFBWW, the European sectoral social partners of the construction industry, held a public discussion on the European Parliament’s report on a European Social Security Number and a European Personal Labour Card.
During the discussion, a representative of the Belgian Labour Inspection presented the challenges to enforce a level-playing field for construction companies, as well as labour rights for workers in the framework of “posting”. Guest speakers MEP Jeroen Lenaers and MEP Nikolaj Villumsen then presented their views on how EU initiatives – including better interoperability of existing national tools – could help with digital tools in a cross-border context.
FIEC Vice-President Joël Schons insisted on the need to develop SME-friendly digital solutions, as most construction companies do not have dedicated legal departments to deal with burdensome procedures.
Construction Blueprint – 6th International Meeting
The 6th international meeting of the Erasmus+ project Construction Blueprint took place in a hybrid form on 13 and 14 October 2021. Since the start of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, it was the first occasion for most partners to meet again physically and discuss the progress made in defining a common framework for better anticipating the skills needs in the transition towards digitalisation, energy efficiency and circular economy.
During the two days meeting the partners discussed the structure of a future construction skills observatory, updated training curricula for Vocational Education and Training centers and the relevant sectoral occupations concerned.
The 3 EU project partners (FIEC, EFBWW and EBC) presented the progress done in the development of a Sectoral Skills Alliance which promotes synergies between the actors of the construction industry in the EU
Basel III: a credit crunch in construction?
The transposition of Basel III will result in restricted access to finance for construction clients as well as for construction companies. This will have several negative effects on the construction sector, from client’s capacity to invest in construction projects, including “greener” construction intended to deliver on the EU Green Deal, to the eventual loss of 440.000 jobs in the sector due to a decrease in construction projects.
Considering these consequences, FIEC advocates for several measures intended to enable those involved in the construction industry to meet their financial needs. This includes an impact assessment which considers the need to drive forward the transition to a sustainable economy, which largely depends on directing financial means towards construction projects. The implementation of the Basel III agreement should be proportionate and preserve the ability of banks to finance the EU economy, which involves reviewing the risk weighting related to the construction sector.
EUR 95 million available for funding projects to accelerate the Clean Energy Transition
The LIFE CET Call for Proposals 2021 has EUR 95 million available for funding projects to:
- build the policy framework for the Clean Energy Transition at local, regional and national level;
- accelerate the market for the Clean Energy Transition with the roll-out of technology, digitalisation, new services and business models and enhancing related professional skills;
- attract private finance for sustainable energy investments and support the development of local and regional clean energy investment projects.
In particular, the following topics can be interesting for our sector:
LIFE-2021-CET-BUILDRENO: Large-scale rollout of industrialised deep renovation solutions
LIFE-2021-CET-BUILDSKILLS: BUILD UP Skills – rebooting the National Platforms and Roadmaps
Deadline for submission is 12th January 2022!