Construction sector crucial to EU economy, says EC vice-president

European Commission (EC) vice-president Antonio Tajani said the performance of the continent’s construction sector had a “significant” bearing on the development of the whole European economy. “The competitiveness of construction companies is therefore an important issue not only for growth and employment in general, but also to ensure the sustainability of the sector,” added Tajani, who was speaking during the FIEC (European Construction Industry Federation) and EC organised ‘Construction Summit’ held duri
June 11, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSS2465 European Commission (EC) vice-president Antonio Tajani said the performance of the continent’s construction sector had a “significant” bearing on the development of the whole European economy.

“The competitiveness of construction companies is therefore an important issue not only for growth and employment in general, but also to ensure the sustainability of the sector,” added Tajani, who was speaking during the FIEC (6164 European Construction Industry Federation) and EC organised ‘Construction Summit’ held during the FIEC annual congress in Istanbul, Turkey.

The aim of the Construction Summit was to discuss a forthcoming Action Plan for the Construction Sector, soon to be adopted by the European Commission together with representatives of the construction industry from across Europe.

During the Summit outgoing FIEC president, Luisa Todini, said many small to medium-sized construction businesses were being “forced into bankruptcy” through continued late payment by public authorities and through the refusal of banks to lend.

To ensure competitiveness of EU companies Todini said it was crucial to ensure a “level playing field” in compliance with environmental, social and corporate governance standards both on the European and international markets.

Concluding the summit, Todini congratulated vice-president Tajani on his decision to hold more regular high level summits between FIEC, which represents 33 national member federations in 29 countries, and the European Commission.

Thomas Schleicher, a German contractor, has been elected as president of FIEC until 2014.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Success of ECED dealers'conference
    April 11, 2012
    ECED's first Dealers' Conference in April during Intermat resulted in "a tremendous success and solid future outlook for the association" The president of the European Confederation of Equipment Distributors (ECED), Dr. José Gameiro, said the gravity of the current crisis is "the worst in the past 50 years, with a devastating effect on equipment distribution for public works and civil construction." Describing the foreseeable consequences for the equipment sector, he estimated that "up to 20-30% of Euro
    Read More
  • CECE-CEMA hands 10-point action manifesto to Euro leaders
    October 17, 2013
    The presidents of the CECE and CEMA have handed the European Parliament a 10-point manifesto for securing strong industrial production across Europe. Doing this, the European construction equipment and agricultural machinery industries underlined that they are committed to playing an active role in reaching the target of the European Commission to raise the share of industry in Europe from 16% GDP to at least 20% by 2020. Both industries maintain important production facilities and R&D sites in Europe.
    Read More
  • The new agile world of the construction equipment industry
    June 22, 2015
    while worldwide for 2015 a crystalball would be helpful, in Europe the sector has already listed specific priorities it wants to tackle, and among these are the upcoming emissions regulations (see separate story), external trade and access to foreign markets, and market surveillance.
    Read More
  • Construction industry bodies call for infrastructure investment in Europe
    May 18, 2012
    The European construction contractors and equipment manufacturers associations (the FIEC and CECE respectively) are calling for increased spending on infrastructure in a bid to stimulate economic growth. “Our industry looks forward to the implementation of the right policies and incentives to nurture sustainable growth and jobs”, said Ralf Wezel, CECE secretary general, during a recent debate organised by the European Forum for Manufacturing (EFM) in the European Parliament.
    Read More

Highlighted Content