The MEPs who took the floor showed a clear consensus on the need to revise the regulation on construction products during a debate on the report by Christian Doleschal (EPP, Germany) on Monday evening 8 March in the plenary session of the European Parliament.
In his address to the Chamber, the rapporteur referred to a “broken system” which has not registered any harmonised standards since December 2018 and only 12 in 4 years (out of a total of 444 standards). The root of the problem stems from the “James Elliott” ruling 613/14 handed down by the EU Court of Justice in 2016, which blocks the harmonisation of regulations, he commented.
For the MEP, it is therefore necessary to act to catch up and make the standardisation process more efficient and to better accompany the green transition. The CE marking should be reviewed in this way, in his opinion, as it is confusing. The marking only relates to the performance of the products, not to their compliance with European requirements such as safety.
He furthermore emphasised: – the digitalisation of the construction sector to avoid overlap and duplication of information on construction products; – the strengthening of market surveillance, and the urgency of adopting new implementing acts to also ensure fair competition, including for products sold online or coming from non-Member States.
Speaking MEPs unanimously shared the rapporteur’s view, even within the ID group. Maria Grapini (S&D, Romania) stressed the importance of taking better account of SMEs. Improving governance was highlighted by Sandro Gozi (Renew Europe, France).
Claude Gruffat (Greens/EFA, France) stressed the need to increase transparency on products by incorporating new performance requirements related to health, safety and environmental aspects.
For his part, Carlo Fidanza (ECR, Italy) mentioned the importance of reducing administrative burdens, pointing out the importance of getting out of the coronavirus pandemic. No member of The Left took the floor during the debate.
The Commission agreed. Didier Reynders, speaking on behalf of his Internal Market colleague Thierry Breton, acknowledged the “deep crisis” that the regulation was going through, speaking of a “deadlock” in standardisation, given that European Committee for Standardization (CEN) standards cannot appear in the Official Journal of the EU. He also admitted that market surveillance was “uneven and insufficient”, pointing to Member States’ scattered “interpretations”.
In the Commissioner’s view, in the area of standardisation, other avenues should be considered, in particular “escape routes” that give the Commission the possibility of intervening in the event of faulty technical standards.
The results of the ‘Doleschal’ report will be known on Wednesday at the end of the day.
The European Commission is expected to present an initiative in the third quarter of 2021, according to its work programme. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)