Opinion from EESC about the revision of the CPR

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has published a opinion regarding the current challenges of the Regulations 305/2011 for construction products (CPR) and the revision proposed by the European Commission this year.

The document is available in English , Spanish , French and other EU languages.

Solving the backlog of standards citation in the OJEU

Many harmonised standards have been published by CEN/CENELEC but not cited in the Official Journal. This backlog creates uncertainty for industry. On this topic,

the EESC believes that the EC does not offer any short-term solutions to resolve the current delay in the publication of new standards in the Official Journal of the European Union. Its objective is to amend the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) which, even if successful, will only yield results within 10 years

Technical standards in the revision of the CPR

The proposal for a reviewed CPR intends to empower the Commission to define technical specifications via Delegated Acts (article 4(3)). Regarding this possibility,

the EESC notes with concern that, although the EC has presented several political options to the Member States, it returns to the old approach in which technical standards are written by regulators at European level, which is especially worrying, since such a centralised process would restrict the ability of smaller members of the industry to voice their opinions and see their views included

The EESC also highlights:

In agreement with the construction sector, supports the development of an alternative option to the one presented by the EC, keeping standardisation at its core

It is of utmost importance to ensure that all stakeholders work together cooperatively and flexibly to have up-to-date standards that are crucial to enable sustainability and digitisation while facilitating innovation in the construction sector

In the specific comments, the EESC states that:

Standardisation plays a crucial role for the European construction sector. It is the main pillar of the Internal Market (IM), it facilitates the free movement of construction products in the EU and stimulates construction activities

Without up-to-date standards, the internal market for construction products could neither be achieved nor maintained

The EC can set the standards for the development of harmonised standards using standardisation applications. However, the EC has been passive in not using this approach and consequently the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) has been forced to continue working with outdated mandates and discouraging experts from working on standards, which are often blocked for reasons beyond their control

The EC notes problems in the current standardisation procedure through CEN (which could certainly be improved) and which led the EC to block many standards. The EESC believes that the solution proposed by the EC, that is, the use of more and more "delegated acts", cannot be satisfactory because it leaves employers, workers and societal stakeholders in standardisation out of the standardisation process

Consultation period of the revision of the CPR

The Commission presented in spring a proposal for the revision of the CPR , available in English , Spanish and other EU official languages.

A summary of comments received during the public consultation of the CPR can be found in the following article I wrote in July: