FIEC Newsletter – 23 Ιουνίου 2026

On 15th June our Italian member federation ANCE celebrated its 80^th anniversary, marking eight decades of support for the construction industry and Italy’s development.
Since its establishment in 1946, ANCE has been the leading representative of construction enterprises, accompanying the country’s economic, social, and territorial transformation.The anniversary highlights the construction sector’s vital contribution to infrastructure development, urban regeneration, and the improvement of communities’ quality of life. Looking ahead, ANCE remains committed to promoting innovation, sustainability, safety, and quality across the industry.

This milestone celebrates a remarkable history while reaffirming the Association’s dedication to addressing the sector’s future challenges and supporting national growth. Congratulations from the whole FIEC family.

On 16th June, FIEC and EFBWW representatives gathered in person in Brussels for the meeting of the Working Group “Health and Safety” of the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Construction. This meeting was a good occasion to take stock on the implementation of the Asbestos at work Directive (Directive 2023/2668) and exchange about upcoming initiatives such as the Quality Jobs Act and the 7^th revision of the Carcinogens, mutagens, or reprotoxic substances Directive.The focus of the meeting was on climate change, and in particular extreme temperatures, and its impact on OSH, with the participation of two external speakers from Constructiv and Vito.

On 19th June, FIEC joined the European Commission’s first information meeting to shape the European Housing Alliance, a key platform for delivering the European Affordable Housing Plan and connecting public authorities, industry, civil society and academia.The discussion confirmed three core priorities: mobilising investment, increasing housing supply and expanding social and affordable housing. Renovation and the repurposing of existing buildings also ranked highly, together with faster permitting, modern construction methods, skills, construction capacity and more reliable housing data.

Participants stressed that the Alliance must address the full social dimension of the crisis. Accessibility, homelessness, discrimination, student and youth housing, rural needs, tenants’ rights and the effects of speculation and financialisation were all raised. A recurring message was that additional supply alone will not automatically ensure long-term affordability.

There was broad support for combining small thematic working groups with wider plenary exchanges. The Alliance should complement existing initiatives, ensure balanced participation and produce practical outputs—such as recommendations, guiding principles and transferable examples—rather than open-ended discussions. Strong links between technical expertise and political decision-making will be essential for implementation.

The Alliance will build on existing EU initiatives, including the Urban Agenda for the EU, the New European Bauhaus, the Cities Mission and the European Urban Initiative. The Commission also presented forthcoming work on the Affordable Housing Act, the Housing Simplification Package, national housing hubs and the Pan-European Housing Investment Platform.

A new report by the Big Buyers Working Together (BBWT) Community of Practice on Circular Construction maps the availability of circular building solutions in Europe and examines the barriers to wider uptake. Combining examples from European public buyers with a survey of 19 organisations in 10 countries, it finds that 79% of the solutions presented are market-ready and 89% are already on the market. The survey is not statistically exhaustive, and its results should therefore be regarded as indicative.Public procurement is a central focus of the report. Building regulations and green public procurement were identified by 67% of respondents as the market trend having the greatest influence on their work, while 83% considered procurement favouring circularity the support measure most likely to help companies scale their offers. Respondents also highlighted persistent constraints, including limited skills, a lack of standards for secondary materials, fragmented responsibilities, regulatory uncertainty and higher upfront costs.

The report also reviews national approaches. Portugal’s ECO360 framework introduced mandatory ecological criteria for public works contracts commissioned after 1 January 2024, including an award factor for reused or recycled materials. Portuguese rules also provide for the preferential use of at least 10% recycled materials or materials containing recycled content. In Lithuania, green public procurement is mandatory, with requirements for certain public buildings covering renewable materials, certified timber, recycled content and Environmental Product Declarations. The report stresses that such requirements need clear standards, sufficient buyer capacity and effective implementation and monitoring.

On 18 June, the CPR (Construction Products Regulation) Acquis expert group of the European Commission met to discuss priorities for standards governing construction products on the EU Single Market. As a full member, FIEC contributes the perspective of users of construction products.With more than 300 standards currently under revision, a clear prioritisation is necessary. FIEC has therefore called on the European Commission to allocate sufficient resources to the development of harmonised technical specifications for building modules and kits, which are essential to support industrialised construction.

The meeting also addressed the possible harmonisation of EN 206, the Ready-Mixed Concrete (RMC) standard. Member States, manufacturers and contractors have raised concerns about the potential impact on the existing concrete system. Given the technical complexity and potential costs involved, an independent, external impact assessment has been suggested before further decisions are taken.

While FIEC supports further integration of the EU Single Market where it delivers clear benefits, work on RMC should not come at the expense of priority areas such as building modules and kits. These offer significant potential to boost productivity, innovation and cross-border market integration, while supporting the objectives of the European Affordable Housing Plan.

On 17th June, FIEC was invited to address the housing crisis at the employers’ meeting of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).Moderated by Mr. Robert de Mûlenaere, Member of the EESC and former Director General of the Belgian Construction Federation (Embuild), the discussion involved Mr. Stefan Moser, from the Task Force Housing of the European Commission, Mrs. Bianca Faragau, from the European Investment Bank, and Mrs. Christine Le Forestier, Director Social Affairs at FIEC.

It came out of the exchanges that the three speakers shared very similar views on the many roots of the crisis and the possible ways forward. To allow construction companies to deliver more, faster, cheaper and more sustainable housing to EU citizens, Le Forestier insisted that construction permit procedures must be fully digitalised, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) like industrial production and robotics must be further supported from a legal and financial point of view, the workforce must be upskilled to the new needs all along their career, and both public and private investment must be mobilised for greater support.

The European Commission is working on simplifying the EU legal framework to fasten the housing production, while the European Investment Bank is developing news schemes and new models to help housing projects see the light.

On 18th and 19th June, FIEC and its Italian (ANCE) and French (FFB) members participated in a workshop with other EU and North African employers’ representatives.Organised by the Internal Labour Organisation (ILO) in their International Training Centre in Turin, this workshop was part of the THAMM PLUS project, a regional programme funded by the European Union, which aims at strengthening employability and facilitating regular, sustainable labour mobility pathways between Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and EU Member States, leading to decent work opportunities.

During the workshop, it was acknowledged that, on both sides of the Mediterranee, skilled workers are missing in the construction, transport, agricultural and tourism sectors. However, there is also a joint willingness to reinforce North African training capacity, to give greater opportunities to their youth and promote their mobility with a win-win approach for all parties.
FIEC intends to keep the door open to further discussions.

On June 18th and 19th, FIEC hosted the first BuildSkills Academy masterclass, The Pact for Skills: What New Skills Will Drive the Twin Transition. Organised with CleanTech (Bulgaria) the two-day event brought together a diverse range of stakeholders from VET providers, Higher Education, research centres, European Institutions, and the industry to collectively share and discuss a strategic vision for skills development which matches current and future sector needs in construction. At the heart of the discussions were the development of skills driven by the twin transition, innovation and how to strengthen partnership capacity across the construction skills ecosystem. The Pact for Skills in Construction, as well as European funded projects Construction Blueprint 2, and EXCEL4HOUSING4.0 where presented, as exchanges on good practices and initiatives to collaborate and develop skills awareness in the construction sector.Beyond the exchange of best practices, the masterclass was a platform for reflection on how green, digital, and transversal skills can be scaled effectively and what role policy, institutions, and training providers must play to adapt rapidly to skills needed for the sector.

The event concluded on a forward-looking note, with participants expressing confidence in building a common, collaborative framework to equip the construction workforce with the skills needed to deliver the twin transition.

On 16^th June, AEIP, the European Association of Paritarian Institutions, celebrated its 30^th anniversary, in presence of several of their former Presidents as well as many stakeholders from the construction sector.

Founded in 1996, AEIP is an advocacy organisation, representing Social Protection Institutions established and managed by employers and trade unions on a joint basis within the framework of collective agreements.

This model is very strong in the construction sector in a number of EU Member States, where paritarian institutions deal with health and safety at work, paid holidays, unemployment benefits, occupational pension funds or vocational education and training for their members.
FIEC has been actively engaged in AEIP’s work for many years, both in the legislative work and in EU-funded projects.