FIEC Newsletter – 20 Ιουλίου 2021

Last week FIEC published its position on the revision of the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive.  The federation calls for further harmonisation to improve the impact of the Directive but warns that it should keep its focus on energy performance in buildings and not become a catch-all directive for all phases of the life-cycle.  Furthermore, as the EPBD does not cover infrastructure, embodied carbon needs to be dealt with under different measures.

On Monday, July 12, the Sustainable Finance Platform published a draft report on social taxonomy  aimed at defining activities that have a substantial social contribution and those that, on the contrary, have negative effects .

On the one hand, the vertical dimension of Taxonomy should focus on promoting decent living standards through the improvement of basic goods and services and would also include elements on accessibility to basic economic infrastructure, including transportation. On the other hand, the horizontal dimension should focus on decent working conditions and consumer interests.

However, in its report the Platform states that it would not be possible, for example, to define what is socially sustainable or not without taking into account the national context and industrial ecosystems. Indeed, many objectives of the social taxonomy go beyond European competence (such as the issue of wages, collective bargaining, etc.) and are in fact a matter for the national level, where the regulatory framework varies greatly from one Member State to another. It is important to ensure that the criteria developed do not favour companies located in certain jurisdictions with stricter social legislation.

The Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction has launched “Decarbonising the Buildings Sector – 10 key measures”, a publication aimed at senior government officials, providing help to get started with decarbonisation policies and tools. It gives examples of good practice in new buildings, existing buildings, building operations, building materials, and resilience. Further information can be found on the link below.

FIEC is looking for a dynamic, solution-oriented and motivated Policy Officer for its Economic and Legal Affairs Commission.

For further details on the job description and how to apply (deadline: 3 September), click on the link below.