Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

General remarks and state of play

The construction industry accounts for almost 9% of the EU’s GDP and provides employment for around 18 million citizens in more than 3 million companies in Europe. Manufacturers of construction products are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises that are an important economic and social asset for local communities in European regions and cities. Many of these companies sell their products in more than one Member State, which necessitates efficient and clear rules for the cross-border sale of construction products.

While the system of standardisation of construction products remains an overall success story within and beyond EU borders, it has reached its limits in recent years. The lack of citation of up-to-date harmonised standards for construction products is a key factor undermining the functioning of the internal market, as it creates trade barriers, additional costs and administrative burdens for economic operators and consumers alike. The process for the adoption of standards has become too slow and thus cannot keep up with the development of innovative products and new production methods in the construction sector. As a consequence, standards become outdated and the regulatory needs of the Member States are not met.

The Rapporteur welcomes the proposal by the Commission. An updated and more effective legislative framework is vital to ensure that construction products can be placed on the market unencumbered by bureaucratic burdens and delays in the standardization process. From the manufacturer to the consumer - actors throughout the value chain need planning security and legal certainty. However, the Rapporteur proposes the following additions and changes to the Commission proposal.

Reducing complexity

The CPR is a piece of legislation that should be understandable and implementable by economic actors throughout the value chain. The Rapporteur’s amendments therefore aim to clarify, reduce bureaucratic burden and - in same cases - delete provisions that present a real risk of regulatory overreach. True to the one-in-on-out principle established by the Commission, the legislators should be careful not to regulate in the absence of necessity. Where tried and tested working methods have been successfully set up by the previous regulation, and there is no call to change these methods from stakeholders, the legislators should be careful not to create uncertainty by introducing unnecessary adjustments.

Scope of the revised CPR

The Rapporteur notes that the Commission proposal covers a wide range of areas that go far beyond the marketing of construction products. The scope of application of the proposed revision covers all actors of the “construction ecosystem”, e.g., manufacturers, importers, distributors, suppliers, architects, designers, and contractors. The Rapporteur further took notice of the fact that the Commission proposal introduces new basic works requirements, product performance and inherent product requirements, as well as product information requirements.

The Rapporteur finds it essential for the application and good functioning of the legislative framework that all actors (manufacturers, distributors, and importers) are able to comply with the new regulation without difficulties and benefit from the information that must be provided according to the revision proposal. The revised Construction Products Regulation should continue to apply to the sale of construction products but not to service contracts with contractors. Those actors in the value chain that merely integrate a construction product into construction works, such as direct installers, should not be subject to the revised CPR.

The rapporteur welcomes the Commission’s proposal to reduce the CO2 footprint of the construction sector by addressing the sustainability performance of construction products in the revision of the CPR.

Resolving implementation issues and backlog of standards

It is a priority for the Rapporteur to present solutions to the current backlog of standards that remain unpublished.

The Rapporteur suggests streamlining the standardisation procedure by introducing clear response deadlines and better communication methods between the Commission and CEN/CENELEC. The Rapporteur is also in favour of introducing binding criteria for the quality of standards, which will ensure that less standards are rejected by the Commission.

The Rapporteur is not in favour of bypassing the standardisation process via the adoption of delegated acts. Therefore, the draft report limits the Commission’s possibilities to adopt harmonized technical specifications through delegated acts.

Vastly extending the Commission’s competence to adopt harmonised technical specifications via delegated act would cause severe delays in the creation and adoption of new harmonised technical specifications, as the Commission lacks the staff and expertise to replace the work of the standardization organisations. CEN/CENELEC are equipped with the expertise and the personnel necessary to ensure a transparent and efficient standardisation process. Similarly, it should be recognised that the European Organisation for Technical Assessment (EOTA) presents an indispensable pathway towards market access for innovative products.

In the Rapporteur’s view, the Commission should be able to supplement the CPR by adopting delegated acts where this is truly necessary in the interest of the internal market: For example, in the case of undue delays in the adoption of standards, where there is an urgency to adopt standards or where essential characteristics are not covered by the standard. The Commission should be able to adjust details in a standard where it is dissatisfied with the quality of the standard, as this speeds up the standardization process.

The division of competencies and the role of public procurement

A clear division between the competences of the Union and of the Member States is needed. The Rapporteur finds it imperative that the revised CPR recognizes that Member States remain responsible for the safety of construction works while the CPR as secondary legislation deals only with matters relating to construction products.

As far as the role of public procurement law in the CPR is concerned, the rapporteur points out that it is a questionable practice for the Union legislator to regulate both via the Public Procurement Directives which have been transposed into national law and via the CPR as a regulation that is directly applicable in the Member States.

The rapporteur furthermore observes with great concern that the Commission proposal appears to interfere with Member States' competence to regulate public procurement procedures and thus considers that environmental requirements for public procurement contracts should be of voluntary nature to ensure that while environmental concerns are taken into account the bureaucratic burden is kept as low as possible for both contracting authorities and contractors.

Legal and planning security for the transition period

The Commission proposal introduces a transition period where both the current and the revised exist in parallel: By its sheer length - the current CPR shall only be repealed in 2045 - this system seems bound to create uncertainties. The Rapporteur suggests a shorter transition period with the repeal of all of the current CPR envisaged within 10 years at the latest.

In addition, the Rapporteur recommends that the Commission set up a publicly available Working Plan for Transition. This plan is to be regularly updated and should contain a list of product families which are considered as priorities for the issuing of standardisation requests. The Commission shall involve Member States in the drawing up of the priorities through a transparent and balanced methodology published together with the working plan. Via this approach, the Rapporteur hopes to achieve planning security for economic operators and transparency for citizens.

Increased use of digitalisation and easing the burden for small and medium sized companies

The Rapporteur welcomes that the proposal places greater emphasis on digital solutions, e.g., in Art. 78 (1). A Single Digital Gateway and the creation of a Union-wide database for construction products are, in principle, to be welcomed, provided that they do not place disproportionate administrative and financial burdens on users. The Rapporteur suggests that digital solutions such as QR codes should be included in the revised CPR.

Clear definition of the database for construction products

The registration of product information online on a construction products database increases transparency to the benefit of the safety of products and the protection of the environment and human health. The Rapporteur thus proposes to establish and maintain a decentralised Union database storing relevant data such as the Declaration of Performance. At the same time, it is vital to protect the trade secrets of the European construction sector from cyber-attacks. In order to guarantee a short response time to threats to cyber security, the Commission should only provide a platform for links to the relevant data, while manufacturers store the date on their private servers.