25 Amendments of Francesca DONATO related to 2022/0094(COD)
Amendment 169 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) It is necessary to establish well- functioning information flows, including via electronic means, to ensure that coherent and transparent information about construction products performances is available along the supply chain. This is expected to increase transparency and to improve efficiency in terms of information transfer. Ensuring also digital access to comprehensive information about construction products would contribute to the digitalisation ofmake the construction sector altogether, making the framework fit for the digital age. Access to reliable and durable information would also mean that economic operators and other actors do not contribute to each other’s non-compliance.
Amendment 170 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
Amendment 176 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) Pursuing the environmental goals, including the fight against climate change, makes it necessary to establish new environmental obligations makes it necessary to lay down a framework for declaring environmental and sustainability performance of construction products, including the possibility of establishing relevant thresholds and classes, and to lay the ground and to lay the ground for the development and the application of an assessment method for the calculation of the environmental sustainability of construction products. For the same reason, it is necessary to extend the range of regulated economic operators, since distributors, suppliers and manufacturers all have a role to play in the calculation of the environmental sustainability in the construction sector. That range should therefore be extended into two directions, downstream from the distributors to the economic operators preparing re-use and remanufacturing of construction products and upstream from the manufacturer over the suppliers of intermediate products and/or raw materials. Moreover, certain operators coming into play in the context of dismantling used products or other parts of construction works or remanufacturing and re-use thereof need to contribute to a safe second life of construction products.
Amendment 178 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) In order to ensure safety and protection of the environment and to close a regulatory loophole that would otherwise exist, it is necessary to clarify that construction products manufactured on the construction site for immediate incorporation into the construction works are subject to the same rules as other construction products. Micro-enterprises, however, often individually manufacture and install products on site. Subjecting those micro- enterprises under all circumstances to the same rules as other enterprises would disproportionally affect those micro- enterprises. It is therefore necessary to enable Member States to exempt micro- enterprises from drawing up a declaration of performance in specific situations, where the interests of other Member States are not affected.
Amendment 180 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) Creating a Union market for small prefabricated one-family houses has a potential to reduce the price of housing and to have positive social and economic effects. Fairness to consumers remains a priority, specifically but not limited to ensuring affordability of housing in the context of the green transition, in line with Proposal for Council Recommendation on Ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality40 , in particular recommendations 7 a)-c). It is therefortherefore it should be necessary to lay down harmonised rules for such small houses. However, small houses are also construction works, for which the Member States are competent. As it might not be possible to integrate cumulatively all national requirements for small prefabricated one-family houses into the future harmonised technical specifications, Member States should have the right to opt out of the application of rules that are to apply to those pre-fabricated one-family houses. _________________ 40 Proposal for a Council Recommendation on Ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality COM(2021)801final 2021/0421 (NLE)
Amendment 182 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) The compliance of construction products with Union legislation often depends on the compliance of their key parts with that legislation. However, because key parts are often integrated into various construction products, the protection of safety and of the environment, including climate, is better achieved when those key parts are assessed upstream, that is when the performance and conformity of key parts will be assessed beforehand and independently from the assessment of the final construction product into which they are integrated. Similarly, market surveillance becomes more efficient when non-compliant key parts can be identified and targeted. Hence, it is necessary to lay down rules applicable to key parts of construction products.
Amendment 183 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) Construction products that have already been assessed and are reused should not be subject to the rules that apply to new construction products. However, used construction products that have never been placed on the Union market before, should be strictly subject to the same rules as new construction products, given that such products have never been assessed.
Amendment 186 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) Where harmonised standards lay down the rules for the assessment of performances with regard to essential characteristics relevant for the construction codes of Member States, harmonised standards should be rendered mandatory for purpose of application of this Regulation, as only such standards reach the goal of permitting the free circulation of products, whilst ensuring the Member States’ ability to request safety and environmental, including climate-related, product characteristics in view of their specific national situation. When pursued together, these two goals require that products are assessed by a single assessment method, therefore the method needs to be mandatory. However, voluntary standards can be used to make product requirements, specified for the relevant product family or category by Delegated Acts, even more concrete, following the path of Decision 768/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council. In line with Decision 768/2008, those standards should be able to provide a presumption of conformity with the requirements covered by them.
Amendment 188 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) In order to contribute to the objectives of the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan, and to ensure safe construction products, safety being one of the goals to be pursued in the legislation based on Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), inherent product requirements related to safety, functionality and protection of environment, including climate, are necessary. When setting these requirements, the Commission should take into account their potential contribution to achieving Union climate, environmental and energy efficiency objectives are necessary. These requirements do not merely relate to the performance of construction products. Contrary to its predecessor Directive 89/106/EC, Regulation (EU) No. 305/2011 does not provide for the possibility to establish such inherent product requirements. However, certain harmonised standards for construction products contain such inherent product requirements which can relate to environment, to safety or simply to the good functioning of the product. These standards demonstrate that there is a practical need for such requirements on safety, the environment or simply the functioning of products. Article 114 TFEU as the legal base of this Regulation also imposes the pursuit of a high level of protection of the environment, health and human safety. Thus, this Regulation should (re-)introduce or validate inherent product requirements. Whilst these requirements need to be laid down by the legislator, there is a need for specifying them for the more than 30 product families, each with several categories. Hence, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission to specify the requirements for the respective construction product family or category.
Amendment 191 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) A circular economy, the key element of the Circular Economy Action Plan, can be promoted by mandatory deposit-refund systems and the obligation to take back unused products. Member States should therefore be allowed to take such measures.
Amendment 192 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) In order to enhance legal clarity and reduce the administrative burden for the economic operators, it is necessary to avoid that construction products are subject to multiple assessments regarding the same aspect of health, safety or protection of the environment, including climate, under different Union legislation. This was confirmed by the REFIT platform recommending that the Commission gives priority to addressing the problems of overlapping and repetitive requirements. The Commission should thus be able to determine the conditions under which the fulfilment of obligations under other Union law also fulfils certain obligations of this Regulation, where otherwise the same aspect of health, safety or protection of the environment, including climate, would be assessed in parallel under this Regulation and other Union law.
Amendment 196 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 42
Recital 42
(42) To optimise the pursuit of the goals of the European Green Deal and of the Circular Economy Action Plan, the manufacturers should be obligedguided in order to reach a fair level of environmental sustainability, both for their products and their manufacturing. This obligation requires trade-off-decisions between different environmental aspects and between environmental and safety aspects, whilst both environmental and safety aspects can relate to the product as such or to the construction works. To give manufacturers certainty about how to make these trade-off decisions, this Regulation should set out clear trade-off rules.
Amendment 197 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 44
Recital 44
(44) In view of enhancing the circularity of construction products, in line with the goals of the Circular Economy Action Plan, manufacturers should favour re-use, remanufacturing and recycling of their products. The (preparation for) re-use, remanufacturing and recycling require certain design, namely by facilitating the separation of components and materials at the later stage of recycling and avoiding mixed, blended or intricate materials. As the usual instructions for use will not necessarily reach the economic operators in charge of (preparation for) re-use, remanufacturing and recycling, the necessary information in this regard should be made available in product databases or systems and on the manufacturer’s websites, in addition to the instructions for use.
Amendment 205 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 47
Recital 47
(47) In order to be able to make informed choices, users of construction products should be sufficiently well informed about the environmental performances of products, about their conformity with environmental requirements and of the degree of fulfilment of manufacturer’s environmental obligations in this regard. Therefore, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts to establish specific labelling requirements which might include the easily understandable traffic light labelling.
Amendment 206 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 48
Recital 48
(48) Certain manufacturer’s obligations, such as assessment of environmental sustainability or giving preference to recyclable materials, can hardly be fulfilled in case of used, remanufactured or surplus products. Economic operators enabling reuse or undertaking remanufacturing should thus be exempted from these obligations, the more so as the reuse and remanufacturing are beneficial to the environment.
Amendment 211 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 89
Recital 89
Amendment 212 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 91
Recital 91
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) rules on how to express the environmental, including climate, and safety performance of construction products in relation to their essential characteristics;
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) environmental, including climate, functional and safety product requirements for construction products.
Amendment 282 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 3 – point e
Article 4 – paragraph 3 – point e
(e) the standards referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 4(2) are not in line with EU climate and environmental legislation and ambition;
Amendment 336 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 2
Article 19 – paragraph 2
2. Where diverging statements of non- compliance of an economic operator or of a product and requests for corrective action emanate from authorities of different Member States, an economic operator shall take differentiated measures, subject to where the products are intended to be made available on the market or directly installed. Where this is not possible or where a more severe measure imposed by one Member State encompasses the less severe measure imposed by another, the more severe measure shall be taken. Where these rules do not lead to a clear result, the Member States concerned and the Commission, and, on their request, other Member States shall try to find a common solution and, if need is, adopt an implementing act in accordance with Article 33.
Amendment 338 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2 – point v
Article 19 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2 – point v
Amendment 342 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2
Article 21 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2
That technical documentation shall contain the mandatory or possibly the facultative calculation of environmental, including climate sustainability assessed in accordance with harmonised technical specifications adopted under this Regulation or with Commission acts adopted under this Regulation.
Amendment 353 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a – introductory part
Article 22 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a – introductory part
(a) design and manufacture products and their packaging in such a way that their overall environmental, including climate sustainability reaches the state of the art level, unless a lower level:
Amendment 356 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point c
Article 22 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point c
(c) respect the minimum recycled content obligations and other limit values regarding aspects of environmental, including climate sustainability contained in harmonised technical specifications;