FIEC Newsletter – 7 Νοεμβρίου 2023

This is the last week to register to the “Recovery Construction Forum 2.0” – Rebuild Ukraine –  that will take place on 14 November 2023 in Warsaw.With the active involvement of our Ukrainian member federation, the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine (CBU), the initiative aims at connecting partner countries’ construction industries and other private and public stakeholders to accelerate the recovery of Ukraine.

The registration is still open and can be accessed at the following link.
More info, links and updated programme of speakers and panels are available via our website at this link.

Here is a YouTube video of FIEC President, Philip Crampton, Moderator of one of the Forum’s panels, inviting to join the event.

On 2 November, during the Annual Conference on the EU Construction Products Regulation (CPR) of the German Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Construction, speakers from the European Commission and the Spanish EU Council Presidency updated the participants on the ongoing trilogue discussions on the Commission proposal for a revised CPR.According to the Commission, green public procurement and the transition period remain the main points of disagreement between the EU institutions.

Andrea Oel-Brettschneider, from FIEC’s German member federation Zentralverband Deutsches Baugewerbe-ZDB, participated in a panel discussion on standardisation under the CPR.

According to a report of the European Commission on the functioning of the European carbon market in 2022, published on 31 October, the EU’s emissions trading system (EU-ETS) helped reduce emissions from power generation facilities and heavy industry by 37,3% compared to 2005 levels.The EU-ETS covers 36% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and was established in 2005.

It will soon be extended to cover also the building and road transport sectors.

On 26 October, during a High-Level conference, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted its call for a new and comprehensive water strategy for the EU, the “Blue Deal“.The EESC published a declaration, 15 guiding principles and 21 actions – under the Blue Deal – “to be implemented as a matter of urgency“.

The declaration reads for example that, over the next two years, “the EU’s industrial strategy and its transition path documents need to be reviewed to include water-related industrial challenges and opportunities, with a special focus on water-intensive industries and supporting the adoption of water-efficient technologies“.

On 25 October, the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) organised a hearing on Late Payments, which provided the opportunity to exchange views with  the Commission on the proposed Late Payment Regulation that will replace the current directive (2011/7/EU).