06 June 2020 – Yesterday, at the occasion of the 8th annual meeting of the High-Level Tripartite Strategic Forum of Construction 2020 hosted by DG Grow of the European Commission, the Secretary-General of CECE Riccardo Viaggi presented the Construction 2050 Alliance on behalf of the whole partnership, a newly established group of 47 European organisations working together to advance the needs and priorities of the wider construction and built-environment sector at EU level, among which EBC.

Construction 2020 is the strategy launched in 2012 by the EC to boost the competitiveness of the European construction sector, gathering officials from across all relevant EC Directorate-Generals for the construction sector and the built environment, representatives from competent national ministries and the main EU construction stakeholders.

As indicated in its concept note, the Construction 2050 Alliance has been established to coordinate common political messages of the construction value chain and raise the political importance of the sector at the European level. Initiated by EBC, FIEC, CECE and Construction Products Europe, this Alliance constitutes an unprecedented level of cooperation under a common vision towards a sustainable construction sector.

The Construction 2050 Alliance considers that construction is the solution industry as optimising the way construction works means improving the life of European citizens, providing higher value with fewer natural resources, and achieving higher quality assets for owners and users. To build the sustainable Europe of tomorrow and to show the unique importance of the construction sector to the European institutions and civil society, the Construction 2050 Alliance will develop activities in four different areas:

• A specific targeted approach to construction in policy-making, because the sector is at the crossroads of different value chains. Its unique nature requires a unique approach.
• An adaptable policy framework to address the evolving construction ecosystem and the transformation of the industry.
• A holistic approach towards policy making in order to implement coherent and balanced policies and legislation.
• A strong partnership between the European institutions, the Member States and construction stakeholders to steer the transformation of the sector with the most adequate policies and tools.

As unveiled yesterday, the work-programme of the Alliance for its first two years features six priority areas:

1. Construction: the solution to Europe’s recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic

2. The contribution of the built environment to the EU Green Deal

3. The human factor in construction: safety, skills and sector’s image

4. Relaunching the Construction 2020 Strategy

5. EU Data Strategy: a construction approach

6. Developing a communication strategy for the Alliance

We are proud and glad that this initiative has now fully taken off, with the construction sector now having a single voice to crucially contribute to the EU political debates. #EUConstruction2050