On Wednesday 18 January during an informal meeting with the construction sector and experts from a number of member states, the European Commission presented three options to improve the Construction Products Regulation (CPR): keeping things as they are, amending the regulation in force (305/2011) or totally changing the approach.
This time, the debates particularly focused on derogations for SMEs (article 5) and simplification procedures (articles 36, 37, 38) for the EC trademark standard for construction products. No one considers these articles as perfect because the SMEs find them difficult to apply as their provisions are too restrictive.
According to several sources, the third option was immediately rejected by the participants. The two others were debated without a clear majority being obtained in favour of the first or second.
For the time being, the European Builders Confederation (EBC) appears in favour of maintaining the status quo in an effort to guarantee regulatory stability (see EUROPE 11705). The European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC) the Construction Products Europe body (CPE) would be in favour of amending the Regulation but without reopening a new legislative procedure (see EUROPE 11706).
According to one source, experts from France, Belgium, United Kingdom, Sweden and Austria have also informally said they prefer the second option
Possible revision in two years' time
Speaking on behalf of Internal Market and Industry Committee, Tapani Mikkeli, informed certain speakers that the publication of new guidelines may not be sufficient for ensuring that the regulation operated effectively because they are not legally binding. He indicated that this could mean reopening the regulation in two years' time. In a few months, the Commission will be launching an impact study into the revision of the regulation and a decision on the approach to follow is expected by the end of 2017.
In December 2016, the Commission presented a raft of measures to speed up the transition to clean energy (see EUROPE 11681). The revision of the regulation on construction products is clearly mentioned it in an effort to rectify any fragmentation in the European market.
On Tuesday 31 January a conference at the European Parliament will be organised on this theme by the rapporteur on the regulation in question, Catherine Stihler (S&D, United Kingdom). This will provide an opportunity to clarify the positions of the different organisations. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)