📋 Tender Overview
The Council has today adopted its negotiating position on the construction products regulation CPR which updates the existing legislation from 2011. The Councils 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 HousingCommon standards for construction productsThe 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.Councils mandateThe Councils 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 Trkiye 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 legislationThe 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 systemThe 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 stepsThe negotiating mandate agreed today formalises the Councils 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.
