Europe is going through technological changes, at the economic level and, above all, in terms of infrastructure. Advanced yet disruptive platforms (e.g. AirBnB, UBER, WE WORK) bring a lot of opportunities but also call for dedicated regulation.
All of these changes concern buildings and the EU policies that regulate them. From an industry perspective, the new technologies will not only affect the different activities within the buildings value chain but will fundamentally change the way people work.
For this reason, EDA support the Manifesto for single political responsibility for built environment in Europe and calls for the appointment of a European Commission Vice-President responsible for the built environment.
All signatories call for increased coordination efforts between the different DGs within the European Commission and a single political responsibility for the built environment, encompassing all industries active in the value chain of a building or structure: developers, architects, civil and structural engineers, quantity surveyors, construction products suppliers, contractors, builders, renovation workers and facility managers.
In the manifesto, the single political responsibility for the built environment is to be embodied by a Commission Vice-President who will oversee the policy drafting across the different DGs as well as its implementation.
We totally agree that the idea of a Commission Vice-President responsible for the “Built Environment” will benefit policy makers, stakeholders active in Brussels and Member States, and eventually, the European consumer.