The European Commission’s 2026 European Semester Spring Package, published in May, highlights the circular economy as an important tool for strengthening Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and strategic autonomy.
Among its priorities, the package identifies energy security, access to critical raw materials and the need to increase industrial competitiveness. Circular economy approaches can contribute to all three.
Moreover, the package also calls on several Member States, including Spain, Greece, Lithuania and Denmark, to strengthen waste management and promote the circular economy.
These priorities are closely connected to the principles highlighted in EDA’s Guide about Urban Regeneration and Demolition Footprint, which promotes regeneration as an opportunity to rethink existing urban spaces, make better use of resources and integrate demolition, deconstruction, recycling and material recovery into the transformation of cities.
For the demolition and deconstruction sector, this represents a clear opportunity: urban regeneration can become a practical driver of the circular economy, which means turning existing buildings and infrastructure into valuable sources of secondary raw materials while supporting more resilient and sustainable European cities.