The EC adopt a strategy which emphasizes the need to further accelerate the green and digital transitions, to increase the resilience of EU industrial ecosystems and to advance Europe’s competitiveness and sovereignty. Moreover, as systems and organizations must understand each other’s data, information, and processes, this is expressed a general level in the European Interoperability Framework, EIF, and the Interoperable Europe Act.
Digital decade added to Green deal
In 2019, the Commission adopted a long-term vision – the European Green Deal – with the aim of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The European Climate Law, passed in 2021, enshrined in EU legislation the target of climate neutrality by 2050 (i.e. net-zero greenhouse gas emissions), along with an intermediate target of reducing net emissions by 55 % by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. In order to achieve this transformation, the European Green Deal entailed a set of legislative proposals, many of which related to energy. In July and December 2021 the Commission published the ‘fit for 55’ package (referring to the goal of a 55 % emissions reduction by 2030). The legislative proposals included the revision of several energy-related pieces of legislation to align them with the new climate targets: the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the Energy Taxation Directive and the gas and hydrogen package. New proposals included the Social Climate Fund (SCF) Regulation.
The EC continues to make progress on several target construction issues – digital building permit (3), digital building logbooks (DBL) (4) – and more generally on e-procurement (5), Taxonomy (6), Level(s) framework (7), CPR (8). DG GROW is continuing its efforts to link the “Digital decade” and the “Green deal” with a strategy announced in March 2023: “Transition Pathway for Construction”. It is not the only one acting: EU DG EISMEA (Innovation), EU DG FISMA (Financial), EU DG Connect, EU DIGIT (Digital Services) and of course EU DG Climate are also working on digitalization and data continuity. For instance, EU funding instruments are supporting efforts to protect the EU’s infrastructure against climate change, such as the InvestEU program and the cohesion and regional development funds. A program for a Digital Europe has also merged: Digital (9).There are also initiatives at European level as several JRC reports have been published since 2021 on Net Zero Carbon and construction (JRC Publications Repository – Assessing Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) development in Europe (europa.eu)); also the WBCSD’s PACT program (Le Partenariat pour la transparence carbone (PACT) jette les bases d’un échange normalisé de données sur les émissions – World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)) is supported by the EU.
EC and data policies
The European Commission has made data a central pillar of its digital strategy. To regulate its use and foster innovation, several regulations now shape the landscape. The Data Governance Act (DGA), in force since 2023, establishes a trusted framework for the secure sharing of data between public and private actors. It promotes the reuse of sensitive public-sector information, sets up independent mediation bodies (“data intermediaries”), and encourages the development of data-sharing services that respect confidentiality.
Adopted in 2024, the Data Act complements this framework by defining the conditions for access, portability, and sharing of data generated by connected devices and digital services. It requires manufacturers and service providers to ensure fair access to the data produced by their equipment, while also regulating public authorities’ access in exceptional situations such as natural disasters or health emergencies. The text also sets out clear rules for contracts between businesses, aiming to prevent unfair practices and ensure a more balanced distribution of value.
Together, these two regulations lay the foundations for a European single market for data. The ambition is twofold: to boost the competitiveness and innovation capacity of businesses, while guaranteeing an ethical framework based on transparency, trust, and the protection of fundamental rights.
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3. Cf In program Horizon, the project ACCORD (Rita Lavikka) https://accordproject.eu/, avec DigiChecks (Ignacio Rincòn)
and CHEK (Francesca Noardo), des projets nationaux comme BRISE Vienna (Christian Schranz and Harald Urban) and RAVA3Pro (Anna-Riitta Kallinen) : https://accordproject.eu/accord-at-the-european-network-for-digital-building-permits-eunet4dbp/
4. http://www.eubim.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/EU-BIM-TG_GA-2022_GROW-Presentation.pdf
5. Guidance on Green Public Procurement (GPP) remains optional for authorities purchasing buildings. Guidance on
building design, a process for establishing the appropriate level of adaptation and verification processes for identified
risks are currently being developed. Once these criteria are published, they will structure public authorities, and could be used beyond this audience for other construction projects.
6. The EU taxonomy defines a process to be followed so that construction and renovation projects, as well as property
investments, can be considered a sustainable economic activity. A risk assessment, as well as adaptation solutions and their implementation in the design, are required for an increasing number of projects.
7 Levels framework: a European Commission initiative developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC). Published in 2021, it is based on six macro-objectives that address key aspects of sustainability throughout the building’s lifecycle. Sustainability indicators for each macro-objective describe how building performance can be aligned with EU policy objectives in areas such as energy, materials use and waste, water, indoor air, health and the environment. Two indicators establish a link between climate adaptation and the financial implications for investors, developers and insurers. This tool offers advice on calculating the life-cycle cost of the building and encourages them to examine the relationship between initial costs and costs at the use stage. If future climate risks and energy consumption in response to higher temperatures are taken into account, this exercise reveals the financial implications of current and future design choices.
8. The proposed revised Construction Products Regulations (CPR 2011) include a requirement for the likely lifetime
impacts of climate change to be taken into account in the design of construction products, which is equivalent to the
anticipation of climate risks legally required in all standards and technical specifications for construction products.
9. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/fr/activities/digital-programme Item “Accelerating the best use of technology – deployment of public services” – 5.2: The program will advance the digitization of governments and public administrations, focusing on the preparation of a European identity and trust ecosystem, the exploitation of public procurement markets for digitization and innovation, the improvement of the interoperability of digital public services, and the digital transformation of justice.