Council adopts position on the construction products regulation

The Council has adopted its negotiating position on the construction products regulation (CPR), which updates the existing legislation from 2011.

The Council’s negotiating position supports the general objectives of the proposal but seeks to clarify some elements to ensure coherence with other related legislation, such as the ecodesign regulation.

On this last day of the Swedish presidency, the Council has agreed on a negotiating mandate, which is a welcome step towards fairer competition within this important sector while also adding another piece of the puzzle towards a greener and more circular European construction industry as a whole.

Andreas Carlson, Swedish Minister for Infrastructure and Housing

Common standards for construction products

The proposed construction products regulation lays down harmonised EU rules for making construction products available on the market. The new regulation will align construction products with circular economy principles, so that they last longer, are easier to repair and can be recycled at the end of their lifespan.

It aims to create common European standards and remove obstacles to the free movement of construction products on the internal market. The proposed update of the 2011 regulation offers digital solutions to reduce administrative burdens, including a construction products database or system.

Council's mandate

The Council’s negotiating position proposes the case-by-case harmonisation of construction products available on the market, but it also broadens the scope of the regulation to include used and remanufactured products through dedicated technical specifications.

The negotiating mandate also clarifies the procedure for the harmonisation of products. The starting point will be a request sent to the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), which brings together the national standardisation bodies of the 27 member states plus Iceland, Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK. If the CEN fails to deliver a standard, the Commission would be authorised to adopt fall-back implementing acts.

Coherence with existing legislation

The Council position aligns the provisions for economic operators in the construction sector with the new legislative framework (the 2008 legislative package on the implementation and enforcement of internal market legislation), and the market surveillance and ecodesign regulations. Similarly, the provisions on notifying authorities and on member state incentives for green construction products and green public procurement have been aligned with the ecodesign regulation. The Council position authorises the Commission to establish mandatory environmental requirements for public procurement or incentives for the acquisition of construction products.

Construction products database or system

The negotiating mandate specifies in detail the design and functionalities of the future European database for construction products, in order to make it more user-friendly for economic operators, so they can easily update the content and documentation, and to facilitate reporting. It will also simplify access for surveillance authorities and ensure a high level of security and protection against fraud.

Next steps

The negotiating mandate agreed today formalises the Council's negotiating position. It provides the Council presidency with a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament, which will start as soon as the Parliament adopts its position.

Background

The construction ecosystem represents almost 5.5% of the EU’s GDP and employs around 25 million people in over 5 million firms. The construction products industry comprises 430 000 companies in the EU, with a turnover of €800 billion. These are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises. They are a key economic and social asset for local communities in European regions and cities.

Buildings are responsible for around 50% of resource extraction and consumption and more than 30% of the EU's total waste per year. In addition, buildings are responsible for 40% of the EU's energy consumption and 36% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.

The revision of the construction products regulation is part of the package of measures that the Commission presented on 30 March, together with the ecodesign regulation and the EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles. These measures are part of the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan.