EFFC President, José Candela (right) with
FIEC Director General, Domenico Campogrande (left)
On Friday 7th of June, I attended two events in Brussels organized by FIEC, a federation of which the EFFC is an Associate Member.
The first event was the FIEC Conference 2019, where a round table discussion took place to discuss the impact of the recent EU elections on the institutions of the European Union Parliament and Commission.
The following topics were presented for discussion:
“Impact of EU elections on the EU institutions”
Benjamin FOX, Brexit and Opinion Editor at Euractive
“Presentation of the Construction Manifesto of FIEC for EP and EC mandates 2019-2024”
Kjetil TONNING, President of FIEC
“Future of the ‘Construction 2020’ initiative”
Gwenole COZIGOU, Director DG GROW, European Commission
During the debate the current uncertainty in the EU over the situation in the UK with BREXIT was highlighted.
FIEC presented the Construction Manifesto for the period 2019-2024 in the EU. This manifest includes the following 7 action points:
- Investing in a competitive Europe
- Ensure a level playing field
- Construction 4.0: Accelerate the digital transformation of the construction industry
- Construction Products Regulation: Ensure that it works in practice
- Committing to the social dimension of the construction industry
- Build a sustainable Europe
- Commission single point of coordination
Likewise, the continuity of the “Construction 2020” initiative was debated in view of the diversity of candidatures for the EU elections.
The second event was the FIEC General Assembly, in which it was decided, among other matters, the appointment of Thomas Bauer as FIEC Vice President and the substitution of Ulrich Paetzold, by Domenico Campogrande, as the new Director General of FIEC, whom I personally congratulated for his new position.
Finally, I had the opportunity to make a presentation of the EFFC, to the members of FIEC, in which the following key points were highlighted for EFFC, in relation to FIEC.
We focused on the following active priorities that we seek the support of FIEC in addressing:
EFFC Rig Operator Licence – A European rig operators’ licence scheme to facilitate operators working across borders more easily.
Working Platform improvement – Working platforms for piling rigs are required by law, but are often ignored by principal contractors, clients and national authorities. This can create an unacceptable risk of loss of life and damage to property.
Safety Co-ordination on site – Required under the EU Mobile Sites Safety Directive, but we see poor levels of co-ordination or respect for co-activity on site.
Attracting young talent to the industry – Promoting construction as a technological industry, essential to life is critical to ensuring we have a workforce in the future.