In a report tabled by Christian Doleschal (EPP, Germany) and adopted almost unanimously (by 686 votes to 4, with 5 abstentions) on the evening of Wednesday 10 March, the European Parliament calls on the European Commission not to delay its revision of the regulation on harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products, so that the standardisation process can be made greener and easier to use.
“With today’s vote, we as a Parliament have taken a clear position on the upcoming revision of the regulation by the Commission. The Construction Products Regulation must be made fit for the future in light of digitalisation and sustainability”, said the rapporteur. “The upcoming revision of the Construction Products Regulation is an opportunity to adopt ambitious environmental performance requirements to make this sector compliant with the commitments in the Green Deal”, said shadow rapporteur Claude Gruffat (Greens/EFA, France).
In a debate on Monday 8 March, a large number of MEPs shared the European Commission’s assessment: the regulation is “not functioning” due to legal difficulties, and needs to be revisited, so that it can support the green transition and move forward economic circularity in the sector (see EUROPE 12674/10). MEPs therefore particularly want to focus on the reuse and recycling of construction products.
They also want information on health, safety and environmental quality to be included with construction products. MEPs propose ending the duplication of information required for CE marking and declaration of performance, which creates red tape and additional costs for businesses. One way to address this is to offer digital solutions, they say.
MEPs are also concerned about the tendency among some Member States to add additional criteria and impose nationally branded construction products, which creates “unjustified” barriers that result in the “fragmentation” of the internal market. The report is, however, somewhat silent on the matter of setting up an eco-label for construction products.
The European Parliament wants to use this own-initiative report to send a strong message to the European Commission, which plans to present a legislative initiative to revamp the regulation in the third quarter of 2021.
The report can be found at: https://bit.ly/3tcBkGK (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)