FIEC Newsletter – 29 Απριλίου 2025

On 23 April, FIEC took part in the social partners’ Hearing on Public Procurement organised by the European Commission. During the hearing, FIEC Director for Social Affairs, Christine Le Forestier, insisted on the role of public procurement in the construction sector in terms of competitiveness. She pointed out that, in order to properly reward innovation, quality and sustainability, bids should be assessed according to the concept of Most Economically Advantageous Tender, rather than on the lowest price only.

Moreover, abnormally low tenders – due to illegal State aid or caused by the non-respect of EU environmental and social rules – shall be detected according to a strengthened methodology and systematically rejected. In order to make public procurement more attractive for construction companies at a time of high inflation, the use of price revision clauses shall be generalised.

Christine Le Forestier also mentioned that, in order to make sure that construction SMEs keep benefitting from public procurement (i.e., in cases where the division into lots is not possible), there should be no restriction imposed to subcontracting at the EU level. This matter is better dealt with at national level, depending on the sector specificities and market structure.

This hearing was part of the overall evaluation exercise of the 2014 Public Procurement Directives undertaken by that the European Commission, in view of a possible legislative revision, to be presented in 2026.

According to Eurostat,  the latest data about construction activity in Europe reveals a downturn in the sector, especially in building and civil engineering activities. Annual figures show building output at -3.6%, civil engineering at -1.9%: a clear sign that EU construction has slowen down.

February construction data reports show a decline of -0.4% in the EU and -0.5% in the euro area. The worst annual results were recorded in Germany (-5.3%) and Slovenia (-10.8%). On a positive note, over the past twelve months, Italy performed strongly (+6%), and Spain also posted solid growth (+2.7%).

A closer look at the two main sub-sectors reveals the depth of the difficulties: building construction fell by -3.4% in the euro area and -3.6% in the EU, while civil engineering works also slowed down, with respective drops of -2.7% and -1.9%. The only segment that managed to keep overall figures positive was specialised construction activities, which grew by +0.7% in both geographical areas.

On 10 June, the EU sectoral social partners for construction, FIEC and the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW), will host the final conference of the EU-funded project on Social Identity Cards in Construction (SIDE-CIC). The conference will present the final outcomes of the project: the mapping report, the feasibility report on the interoperability of social identity cards schemes in the construction sector and the recommendations.

The event will take place at the Residence Palace (Brussels) from 12:30 to 18:30. This will be an in-person only event.
The conference agenda will be available in the coming weeks. Click here to register.

FIEC and the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) are looking for an external expert to contribute to the EU-funded DESOCO3 project (“Continuation of Decentralised Thematic Social Dialogue for the Construction Industry”) which aims at strengthening social dialogue and discussing key industrial challenges in the sector.

The expert will be responsible for carrying out a mapping study of national legislation on subcontracting in the construction sector in all EU Member States and the EEA.

The deadline for applications has been extended to 19 May 2025.