a
what was at stake
b
green position
c
what we achieved
d
what we did not achieve

Marketing of construction products

Building or renovating a house has considerable environmental implications. More than half the energy consumed by European households is used for heating.

At the same time, the production and transportation of construction materials generates greenhouse gas emissions.

Therefore how construction materials are marketed has a major effect on energy efficiency and thus climate protection.

The Commission's proposal for a Regulation sets out to define the characteristics of different sorts of construction materials and harmonise the specifications of construction materials across the Member States.

 

What was the Greens' position?

The Greens believe that procedures for standardising the marketing of construction products should be transparent enough for consumer organisations to understand and also enable them to evaluate how conclusions were reached.

The aim of the proposed text is to mitigate the power of leading construction companies and promote innovative and ecological construction methods.

Special procedures for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must be designed so as not to serve as loopholes for major industrial players.

 

Did other MEPs accept the Greens' position?

The Greens succeeded in introducing several demands during the negotiations in Parliament.

Our key demands concerned product safety throughout the entire life cycle, minimising wastage of natural resources and obliging manufacturers to demonstrate the reliability and safety of their products.

Even though the Member States managed to water down the legislation in the Council, we successfully retained several points in the text, concerning the transparency of assessment bodies, the need for simplified procedures to be equivalent to regular procedures, the obligation to protect workers' health and safety and the requirement that construction products be energy efficient and re-usable.

 

Which points did the Greens lose?
In general, the Greens were satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations, even though the Member States diluted the Regulation in the Council in order to protect their respective national industries.
Reference(s)
Committee:IMCO

Procedure:Ordinary legislative procedure

Reference(s):2008/0098(COD)

Lead MEP:Catherine Stihler

Green MEP responsible:Heide Rühle

Voted:18.01.2011

Staff contact:Stany Grudzielski (Email)