FIEC Newsletter – 21 Μαρτίου 2023

On 15th March DG GROW of the European Commission presented to the High Level construction forum the Transition Pathways for the construction eco-system. During the event FIEC Vice-President, Piero Petrucco, stressed that beside such Transition Pathways for a more resilient and green construction eco-system to achieve the EU Green Deal targets. ‘’We also need a transparent monitoring framework with the involvement of the industry in order to ensure its proper implementation and adaptation, according to the developments and the needs’’.The updated EU industrial strategy highlights the need to accelerate the green and digital transition of EU industry and its ecosystems. To that end, it proposes working together with the industry, public authorities, social partners and other stakeholders. Therefore, the EU Commission proposed to introduce a sectoral Transition Pathway in collaboration with Member States, the industry and other concerned stakeholders.

The initiative, to the benefit of different actors involved, including construction companies, presents an analysis of the challenges that stakeholders and policymakers should address to improve the ecosystem’s resilience and set them on a path to a greener and better digital future.

It is key now that the industry representatives and policy-makers, both at the EU and national level, actively take co-ownership of the implementation of the Transition Pathways.

On 14th March, the European Parliament adopted its position on the proposal for a recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) by 343 votes to 216, with 78 abstentions. The Parliament will now enter into negotiations with the 27 Member States in the Council. The negotiations are expected to start in spring.According to the position, all new buildings should be zero-emission buildings from 2028, with the deadline for new buildings occupied, operated or owned by public authorities in 2026.

FIEC’s reaction to the Parliament’s position can be found at the link below.

On 16 March 2023, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive set of actions to ensure the EU’s access to a secure, diversified, affordable and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. These actions are set out in the proposed Regulation and Communication on critical raw materials.

The Commission’s proposals aim to diversify and enhance the resilience of EU critical raw material supply chains. The Critical Raw Materials Act also improves the EU’s capacity to monitor and mitigate risks of disruptions and enhances circularity and sustainability.

The European Social partners of the construction industry, FIEC and EFBWW, are organising the final conference of the EU-funded project “Better Functioning of the European Labour Market” (FELM). The event will be held in Vienna on 25th April 2023.

The main objective of the project is to assess the social and economic challenges linked to the increased number of third country national companies and workers on the EU labour market in the construction industry and present a series of recommendations to policy makers. The final conference will present the main insights from the study conducted during the project and highlight what could be improved in the current legal framework.

Registration and agenda can be found on the link below.