Supporting study for the fitness check on the construction sector : EU internal market and energy efficiency legislation; Volume 1: Main report

The Study is intended to support the REFIT Sectoral Fitness Check of the Construction Sector undertaken by the Commission and expected to be published in Spring 2017. The Sectoral Fitness Check aims at examining how various EU legal acts impact on the construction sector, and at identifying possible areas of improvement, including reduction of regulatory costs and burdens and a better alignment of provisions, if applicable. The analysis included evaluating the efficiency, coherence, effectiveness, relevance and EU added value of most relevant provisions of EU legislation, with respect to the objectives for a more competitive and sustainable construction sector, in particular for SME. A particular attention will be paid therein to identify any synergy or inefficiency arising from these acts. In this context, this Study pursues two objectives: (i) assessing the impacts (in terms of both costs and benefits) that a number of pieces of EU legislation in two policy areas have on the construction sector, from both an economic and legal perspective; (ii) carrying out an ex-post evaluation of the efficiency, the coherence, the effectiveness, the relevance and the EU added value of selected EU legislative texts with respect to the achievement of the objectives for a more competitive and sustainable construction sector. The analysis consists of a retrospective assessment.