Construction 2020 Action

In 2012, the European Commission proposed an action plan, called “Construction 2020”, to meet construction sector challenges today through 2020. UIPI has been active in this Forum to represent and voice the interests of property owners.

On 6 March 2017, UIPI took part in the 5^th High-level tripartite Strategic Construction 2020 Forum, focusing on the topic of digitalisation in the construction industry and the key challenges and opportunities from digitalisation. UIPI is also particularly involved in the Thematic Group on ‘Stimulating investment in building renovation, infrastructure and innovation’. The Group focuses on better alignment of EU instruments for sustainable building renovation and infrastructure maintenance and take-up of R&D results and deployment of innovative practices and governance for the construction sector. One of the more recent topics has been the potential introduction of a “building passport”. Why is UIPI active in Construction 2020?

Our members constitute a major part of the construction sector’s client base.
Policy and actions in the construction sector are closely linked to building regulation, real estate policies and the provision of construction goods and services.
Measures promoting and supporting the stability of the construction sector directly and indirectly impact the housing and real estate sector.

UIPI’s presence in these meetings ensures the appropriate representation of private property owners’ interests.

European Construction Sector Observatory

One of the outcome of the Forum is the creation of a EU Construction Sector Observatory. It aims at informing European policy makers and stakeholders on the market conditions, trends and policy developments in the construction sector in the EU Member States. This is done by regular analysis and comparative assessments. The Observatory developed:

Country Fact Sheets provide insight into national construction sectors, providing an assessment of macroeconomic indicators, key economic drivers, key issues and barriers, innovation in construction, national and regional policy and regulatory frameworks, progress vs Construction 2020 and an outlook for the future. UIPI provided input for these.
Policy Fact Sheets present interesting policy measures that have been implemented at national level and assess their effectiveness and impact, in terms of actual or expected results, stakeholder perspectives and lessons learned.
Analytical Reports assess the implementation of specific thematic objectives of the EU’s Construction 2020 Strategy. The first report looks at construction sector investment trends in 10 Member States, as well as related policies that have an impact on investment in the residential, non-residential and infrastructure markets.

What is Construction 2020?

The Construction 2020 Forum is the result of the Commission’s Action Plan on “Construction 2020” that accompanied the Communication on a “Strategy for the sustainable competitiveness of the construction sector and its enterprises”. The governance structure comprises of a High Level Strategic Forum and 5 Thematic Groups to address the five key objectives of the Construction 2020 Action Plan:

Stimulating favourable investment conditions
Improving human capital
Improving resource efficiency, environmental performance and business opportunities
Strengthening the Internal Market for construction
Fostering the global competitive position of EU construction enterprises

The concerted governance aims at identifying and implementing measures that help foster sustainable competitiveness in the construction sector, by encouraging the activity of building renovation and infrastructure maintenance, and increasing the capacity of the construction sector to innovate.