FIEC Newsletter – 4 Μαρτίου 2025

On 3 March, FIEC President, Piero Petrucco, participated in a round table with Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Roxana Mînzatu. This meeting gathered CEOs of leading businesses in strategic industrial sectors. The aim of the round table was to prepare the presentation of a Communication on a Union of Skills, expected to be published on 5 March.

This initiative is key to tackle labour and skills shortage affecting all EU Member States and many industries, including construction. This Communication will design an overarching strategy, focusing on adult and lifelong learning, investment, Vocational Education and Training, partnership with governments, education and training providers, social partners, and other relevant stakeholders and on skills development.

The European Commission published two Omnibus Simplification Packages (OSPs) on 26 February. They will now enter the legislative co-decision procedure with the European Parliament and the Council.

The goal is to reduce the administrative burden for companies by facilitating and streamlining key legislation of the European Green Deal as well as unlocking investment opportunities by optimising several investment programmes.

Omnibus I on environmental reporting: This package proposes changes to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Due to the complexity of these dossiers, the Commission proposed in a first step to postpone certain disclosure requirements under the CSRD and the transposition deadline under the CS3D. Changes to the implementation timeline must be treated with priority by the co-legislators to ensure legal certainty for companies, and provide for enough time to address the specific modifications to the content of the dossiers. To propose changes to the Taxonomy Regulation for Sustainable Finance, the Commission launched a call for evidence on the Taxonomy Delegated Acts.

Omnibus II on investment simplification: This package aims to increase the capacity of InvestEU, the EU’s largest risk-sharing instrument to support priority investments. The changes are expected to mobilise around 50 billion euro in additional public and private investments.

Research and Innovation (R&I) is integral drive to the European construction industry’s growth, resilience and sustainability: investment in the area ensure that business in the built environment remains competitive, efficient and adaptable.

Therefore, a delegation from FIEC visited the experience centre and testing facilities of the Belgian Construction Industry (Buildwise) to gather information about the latest developments in the sector. The centre is dedicated to driving digital transformation in the construction industry, serving as a hub for entrepreneurs seeking to leverage digital technologies for enhanced efficiency and for streamlined project management.

A big ‘thank you’ to our hosts at Buildwise for their warm hospitality, and to our guest speaker from ECTP, the European Construction and Sustainable Built Environment Technology Platform, for providing valuable insights on accessing EU funds for Research & Development.