The Construction 2020 High Level Tripartite Strategic Forum of the Commission’s “Construction 2020” Action Plan, held on 17 June, focused on the short-term responses to COVID-19 and how the Recovery Package including the Renovation Wave can support the construction ecosystem to recover, repair and emerge stronger from the crisis.
During the meeting, participants discussed how to increase the construction ecosystem’s capacity and resilience to deliver appropriate solutions on short to medium term for a sustainable built environment.
The COVID-19 health crisis has been noted in that stakeholders have suffered difficulties in their supply chains and in coping with extra sanitary measures.
However the impact and expected recovery are uneven between Member States, with some much more affected than others.
In light of the challenges generated by the COVID-19 crisis, the sector therefore proposes various initiatives including health and safety protocols and guidelines, support and stimulus programmes, as well as temporary unemployment measures.
The Green Deal and the Renovation Wave, the Industrial strategy and Circular Economy Action Plan, and the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan will together provide public investments and strategic direction towards these goals.
Recently, the European Commission has unveiled its plan for Europe’s economic recovery from COVID-19, with its Communication Europe’s moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation.
The essential support measures for the immediate recovery will be adopted at first with the focus being on EU Green Deal initiatives, this includes the Renovation Wave initiative set to launch in September 2020.
During the meeting, stakeholders pointed out various aspects, such as the need for the proper skills to implement the Renovation Wave, paying attention to localized value chains and having a circular economy approach, the importance of ensuring that SMEs can access funding and assessing the needs of building users and their ability to pay rents.