FIEC Newsletter – 3 Οκτωβρίου 2023

On 27 September, FIEC President, Philip Crampton, gave a speech on the future of construction in the context of the green and digital society at the 24th “BIBM Congress” (Federation of the European Precast Concrete Industry) in Amsterdam.In his speech, he stressed that the construction sector holds a distinctive role in the green transition. He also gave an overview of the key sectoral challenges of the EU Green Deal, which is set to fundamentally reshape the European industry, and construction, both in terms of buildings and infrastructure.

Finally, President Crampton spoke about the importance of a digitalised construction sector for the EU economy and cited the benefits of BIM (Building Information Modelling) as an example of what digital solutions can bring to the industry.

In a webinar held by the European Commission on 19 September, stakeholders from the construction and the financial sector discussed new financing and legislative tools that could support the “Renovation Wave”.

Among other things, the participants stressed that transparent Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are crucial for financial institutions when assessing the energy performance of buildings.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was identified as one of many regulatory barriers preventing financial institutions from scaling up their offer of financial products for the energy renovation of buildings.

On 25 September, the European Labour Authority (ELA) organised a high-level event in Berlin for the launch of its study on “Construction sector: Issues in information provision, enforcement of labour mobility law, social security coordination regulations, and cooperation between Member States”.FIEC, together with its Social Partner EFBWW, participated in the debate and was represented by its Director General, Domenico Campogrande, who discussed the employers’ perspective and the challenges regarding posting of workers, access to information or subcontracting.

The report shines a light on the practices and challenges for the mobility of workers in the construction sector. It presents the existing tools to improve the enforcement of labour mobility law, suggestions to make these tools more efficient and is providing guidance for ELA to enhance better support to Member States’ activities related to the relevant issues.

On 26 September, a delegation from the Danish Construction Federation paid FIEC a visit as part of its “Danish Construction Federation Study Tour”.The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) were among the discussed topics.

The Danish Construction Federation is an independent business organisation operating under the umbrella of the Confederation of Danish Industries (DI), representing approx. 6,000 member companies in the Danish construction sector.

This one-day conference will offer a deep dive into the outlook for major construction equipment markets around the world, with a special focus on the markets and future demand for machines powered by alternative energy.

FIEC will participate in this conference through its Policy Officer for Economic & Legal Affairs, Afonso Brito, who will talk about the topic: “Construction markets in Europe“.