Elections when it comes to the European Parliament happen to be approaching rapidly, with votes set to go to the polls between 6-9 June 2024.
The outcome will help to mold Europe’s politics for the upcoming five years, which is why two major bodies that represent the interests of the European construction industry as well as construction equipment manufacturers happen to both making their case now so as to shape future policy.
Both the European Construction Industry Federation- FIEC and the Committee for European Construction Equipment- CECE have released their manifestos, not just setting out the significance of their members to Europe and its economy but at the same time also listing what they want to witness Europe’s leaders do so as to support their industries.
Both happen to lay claim to considerable clout. FIEC happens to represent 32 national construction federations throughout 27 countries and estimates that all combined, they go on to make a 10.1% contribution towards the EU gross domestic product- GDP. Meanwhile, the CECE happens to claim that its members go on to manufacture 20% of the global output of construction equipment.
Generic themes
So what do they need from the next European government? Both have a pictured list of areas where they would like to witness more action or support. However, there are some common themes that happen to cut across both.
The elections happen to come at a time when governments throughout the world, including in Europe, are indeed trying to lead a massive reduction in CO2 emissions in order to meet the target of attaining net zero by 2050.
That happens to require a significant investment in new infrastructure and also work to make existing infrastructure assets much more resilient to climate change, which happens to be already taking place.
While both the FIEC and CECE see this as an opportunity for construction to take a major role, they at the same time also warn that they want to look at measures to support construction when it comes to assisting Europe in terms of achieving its goals, instead of tying it up in new regulations.
Pointing out the fact that manufacturers have already embraced heavily in clean technology to decrease the emissions that pave the way for decarbonized construction in Europe, CECE goes on to say that technology-neutral policies and also the enabling factors happen to be quite fundamental to making sure that the construction machinery can go ahead and deliver the Green Deal.
The president of FIEC, Philip Crampton, adds that they need to execute and update regulation, standardization, and certification, and that’s a fact they accept. But on the other hand, he would like to make sure it supports competitiveness along with innovation and does not jeopardize common efforts.
Both happen to have also called on the next crop of MEPs in order to do more so as to make European construction a tad more competitive. FIEC, in addition to European International Contractors- EIC noted that public procurement procedures, inside as well as outside of Europe have made it harder for European international contractors to go ahead and compete, resulting in a loss as far as market share is concerned.
And CECE has also gone on to express its concern about the unfair commercial practices of its international competitors, which is indeed an issue that came to the fore in 2023 when the UK happened to launch an investigation into the alleged dumping of Chinese excavators within the UK market, and that too around the same time the European Commission launched an investigation into imported mobile elevated work platforms- MEWPs from China in the wake of complaints from European suppliers.
Commenting especially on the situation facing contractors, the EIC happens to call upon EU policy makers to go ahead and make use of their legislative powers when it comes to trade, development, and neighborhood policies so as to establish a level playing field for the European international contractors who happen to work outside the EU, said the, EIC president, Benoît Chauvin.
CECE’s 4 major messages
In the manifesto, CECE remarked that construction happens to hold the potential to turn Europe’s Green Deal into a growth strategy, with construction equipment manufacturers becoming the enablers of the green transition. In order to do so, it set out its important messages in four areas:
1) Single Market: CECE opines that Europe’s Single Market, which helps with the free movement of people, goods, and services throughout the national borders, needs continued dedication so as to make sure it is safeguarded as well as strengthened. It called on the incoming European legislature to go ahead and reduce the regulatory burden when it comes to European companies; go ahead and also apply the market surveillance framework, amid the concerns that the present practices are not addressing the product compliance; helpw with compliance with the Machinery Regulation by way of a comprehensive and timely guide to application pertaining to manufacturers; make sure of supply chain resilience through more Single Market integration; make sure to uphold the role of harmonised standards within the New Legislative Framework by way of ensuring their rapid publication in the Official Journal of the EU and also refraining from creating technical specifications which go on to circumvent the European standardisation system.
2) Path towards Decarbonization: When it comes to decarbonization, CECE stressed that there had to be a transition from a solely machine-focused way to a more complete view. But it also went on to warn that construction machinery needs to have sector-specific solutions that cannot just mirror the on-road sector. It happened to call on the legislature to: Synchronise the decarbonization policies along with the other regions of the world; uphold the principle pertaining to technological neutrality; foster availability in terms of low or net-zero CO2 energy carriers at costs that are pretty acceptable; help with the large-scale deployment in terms of low and net-zero refueling infrastructure; go ahead and incentivize fleet renewal; and also upscale the adoption of net-zero machines by way of European Investment Bank loans; Create an EU-wide framework when it comes to public procurement that goes on to support sustainable European solutions for public tenders; and also include synthetic fuels in the definition of CO2-neutral fuels.
3) Digital transition as well as the data: CECE went on to urge the policy-markers to remember that digitalization is not just a goal in itself but happens to be an enabler of the construction sector. It called for the legislature to: Go ahead and support for manufacturers for consistent execution of Cyber Resilience Act as well as Data Act; Deliver harmonised benchmarks as well as effective guidance for execution when it comes to Critical Raw Materials Act- CRA; Ensure execution of the Data Act does not go on to hinder the B2B contractual freedom along with the protection of trade secrets; make sure of proper implementation when it comes to the AI Act; Tackle digital skills gap in areas pertaining to AI as well as cyber security through funding training programmes.
4) International Competitiveness: CECE went ahead and stressed the importance of maintaining the competitiveness of Europe’s construction equipment industry, and that too on a global scale, and happened to call for: A conclusion when it comes to the negotiation of the EU-Mercosur free-trade agreement along with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay; finalizing the EU-India free-trade agreement; making sure to enforce the EU Customs Union with Turkey; Relevant investigations within the unfair commercial practices of the EU’s global competitors; Reaffirmed commitment when it comes to the reconstruction of Ukraine; Permanent agreement in terms of EU-US tariffs when it comes to steel and aluminum. Sustainable mining support throughout the EU. Overall implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act.
FIEC’s 10 important messages
FIEC itself has gone on to set out 10 key messages to European policy-makers from the European construction industry.
1) Making sure of an adequate framework for public procurement: FIEC has argued that Europe’s present legal framework does not precisely address unfair competition by third country companies when it comes to public procurement, specifically those bidding at prices that happen to appear to be abnormally low. It called for actions to restrict EU member states from going ahead and undertaking in-house procurement as well as harmonised methods in terms of identifying abnormally low tenders. It also went ahead and called for measures so as to avoid the practice of imposing the usage of particular BIM software on the bidders.
2) Price adjustment mechanisms: It has called on the European Commission to go ahead and issue guidance aimed at encouraging member states to make sure to consider price revision mechanisms that happen to take into account complexity when it comes to construction projects. The call comes after contractors in fixed price contracts got burned by supply chain problems as well as inflation, therefore sending some bankrupt.
3) Investing in the infrastructure: Due to the pressure on the European energy network so as to deliver far more renewable energy, in addition to a transport network that FIEC opined happens to be far from complete and even deteriorating, it is argued that investment in infrastructure projects has to be a key priority when it comes to national and EU levels.
4) Construction at the core of the transition towards a sustainable society: FIEC opined that a series of plans to go ahead and boost sustainability in Europe, such as the Circular Economy Action Plan, Fit for 55, Renovation Wave, and other initiatives, go on to represent a business opportunity for the construction sector. However, it did call for balance when it came to the green agenda for flexibility for industry, with ample time for companies to go ahead and become more circular, embrace low-carbon construction materials and, at the same time, low-emission fuels, and also have new whole life cycle approaches, in addition to adequate financial support so as to cope with the massive efforts that happen to be involved in terms of decarbonizing the overall construction value chain.
5) Ample implementation of EU taxonomy for sustainable activities: The EU taxonomy when it comes to sustainable activities is a key reference for investors as well as companies, and happens to be designed to direct investment to certain projects that are most needed for the transition to climate neutrality. The manifesto from FIEC went on to remark that it was quite mandatory to help the construction companies so as to go ahead and comply with the EU taxonomy’s technical criteria, that happens to involve ensuring that new or even a revised criteria has to be implementable by the construction companies. It also called upon the European Commission to make sure that smaller companies that don’t happen to comply with ambitious technical criteria will go on to have alternative solutions and don’t find themselves cut off from investments.
6) Taking care of the labor shortage and skills gap: Construction companies happen to be still struggling to look out for workers with skills, an issue that has gone on to become more pressing with the green and digital transition as well as an aging population. FIEC has gone on to urge the EU to raise investment when it comes to learning, apprenticeship schemes, and schemes that promote the attractiveness of the construction sector. Meanwhile, it went on to ask policymakers to consider ways of enabling safe access for skilled third-country nationals to the EU.
7) Create climate-resilient cities of tomorrow: FIEC called upon the European Commission to go ahead and accompany member states, regions, and cities in terms of defining medium- and long-term objectives for certain urban areas, thereby striking the right balance in terms of the urgency of climate protection and also socio-economic needs like affordable social housing as well as mobility.
8) Making sure of fair working conditions: On the backdrop of the mandate of the European Labour Authority- ELA, FIEC remarked that the EU should go ahead to fight against fraudulent practices within construction and enhance access to as well as the quality of national and EU legislative information.
9) Make a culture of prevention for healthy as well as safe working more robust: FIEC said it happened to back the Vision Zero scheme, which happens to be promoted by the European Commission when it comes to the field of occupational safety as well as health. But it warned that while adapting or may be elaborating occupational health as well as safety legislation, the EU must take into consideration certain specific sectoral circumstances as well as needs, such as periods of adaptation for companies. It happened to call for the existing health and safety legislative framework throughout Europe to be made much simpler and more easily enforceable without lowering protections pertaining to workers and companies.
10) Create a level playing field for European international contractors: Throughout the past decade, European construction has gone on to experience continuously rising unfair competition when it comes to public procurement procedures inside as well as outside the EU internal market, right from third-country state-owned enterprises, as per the FIEC and EIC. While there happen to be some steps to level the playing field, they went on to argue that the new European Commission as well as the European Parliament go on to continue in this direction and also suggested that the reconstruction of Ukraine would indeed be an ideal opportunity to go ahead and put forth the Buy European policy.
