Industry Day for BIM-SPEED
Construction companies involved in energy-efficiency renovation and other stakeholders will be invited to participate in a virtual Industry Day in October 2019, to find out more about the progress of several demonstration cases and learn how they can benefit from the results of BIM-SPEED. The Horizon 2020 project aims to stimulate the use of BIM in energy renovation and will, amongst other things, develop tools to help small companies use BIM in their residential renovation projects. The date and further information will be given here as soon as possible. In the meantime, more information about the project can be found on the link below.
EU-OSHA study on societal cost of work-related injuries and death
On 1st August, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) published a new study to assess the societal cost of work-related accidents and diseases. According to this study, in 2016, there were an estimated 2.4 million non-fatal accidents and 3,182 fatal accidents in the European Union.
Occupational health problems affect about 7.9% of the European workforce of which 36% resulted in absence from work.
However, the European agency explains that these figures have some limitations, due to the poor quality of the data collected by Member States. The Agency thus focused on Member States with more reliable data for a comparative study (Germany, Poland, Italy, Finland and the Netherlands).
Juncker Plan keeps making progress
According to the latest available information, the Juncker Plan has now generated €424 billion additional investment in the EU. In July, approved operations under the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) amounted to €76.9 billion in financing, in the 28 EU-countries.
The top 5 countries benefiting from this investment plan (related to their GDP) are: Greece, Estonia, Portugal, Bulgaria and Poland.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) approved financing amounting to €55.8 billion in infrastructure and innovation projects, which will generate €256.9 billion additional investment.
The European Investment Fund (EIF) approved financing amounting to €21.1 billion for intermediary banks and funds, which should generate up to €167.1 billion for SMEs.
The new EU Commission is taking shape
After a delicate election by the European Parliament last July, Ursula von der Leyen is proceeding with the setting up of the new Commission. The names and profiles of 25 commissioners are now known. Only the Italian and Romanian candidates are still missing.
As announced, Mrs von der Leyen almost achieved a gender, with currently 12 women and 14 men, as well as political balance of her future team.
It should not be forgotten, however, that they are currently all candidates for the role of European Commissioner. Before taking up their duties, each one of them will be heard by the European Parliament in hearings that will take place in September. The candidates will appear before the different Committees of the European Parliament, depending on the portfolio allocated to them.
If the European Parliament approves the composition of the European Commission, as a whole, it will take office from 1 November 2019 .
