CECE and ECCREDI say Europe needs holistic approach to R&D investment

First published at bauma - April 11, 2019

Industry organisations discuss priorities for European R&D investment

Europe needs to take a holistic approach to the construction industry in its next programme of research and investment. To help achieve this, industry groups are calling for a European-wide partnership on the built environment and construction. The Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE) and European Council for Construction, Research, Development and Innovation (ECCREDI) said this coordinated approach is necessary to address the global challenges and international competition identified in the European Commission’s Horizon Europe research and investment programme for 2021 to 2027.

Europe is proposing an increase in its research and investment budget to €100bn for its new Horizon Europe programme, compared with €80bn during the previous seven-year programme. Europe lags behind its global competitors in terms of the percentage of GDP it invests in research and innovation, just 1.3% compared with 2% by the US and 3.3% by Japan, said Jürgen Tiedje, head of the advanced manufacturing systems and biotechnologies unit at the European Commission, speaking at a workshop on digital construction at bauma 2019.

Construction underpins all key European Union policy goals, said CECE and ECCREDI in a joint statement at the workshop. “This means that the transformation of the built environment and of the construction sector must be a priority in Horizon Europe in order to build a sustainable Europe of tomorrow. To cope with the disruptive pace of digitalisation and to capitalise on its potential, we need a holistic approach in Horizon Europe that will encourage cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral and cross-border collaboration.”