Ahead of the European Parliament elections on Thursday, Scottish Building Federation Chief Executive Michael Levack has written to the lead candidates for each of the major parties as well as the Scottish Green Party, highlighting four key European priorities for the Scottish construction industry.

Mr Levack has highlighted energy efficiency of buildings, health and safety regulations governing building sites, EU public procurement rules, and licensing of building firms as four areas of EU policy that Scotland’s MEPs should focus on to help promote jobs, skills and capacity in Scotland's critically important construction sector over the next five years.

In his letter, Mr Levack calls for a cross-party consensus in favour of cutting VAT on home improvements to 5%, a measure made possible by a recent EU decision allowing EU Member States to cut VAT in this area to the legal minimum to encourage energy efficiency in buildings and boost the construction industry.

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He highlights the direct impact of health and safety regulations agreed in Brussels on Scottish building sites. While stressing the need to avoid strangling the industry with red tape, Mr Levack expressed strong support for exchanges in best practice on health and safety across Europe’s building industry. He also argued that health and safety must not become a casualty of greater competition in construction services across the single market. He suggested that the EU Bilbao Declaration "Building in Safety", adopted 5 years ago by the European Council of Ministers, should be reviewed to see what progress has been made in reducing the number of deaths and injuries in the European construction industry.

On the issue of public procurement for major construction projects, the legal framework for which is also set by the EU, Michael Levack underlines the need for these rules to allow contractors to balance cost considerations against other important considerations - such as quality and the extent to which selected firms give priority to maintaining high standards in health and safety.

Michael Levack said: "The impact that EU decisions - good or bad - have on the Scottish construction industry should not be underestimated. That's why I’m keen to ensure that the specific interests of the construction sector are treated as a matter of priority by those candidates elected to the European Parliament on Thursday."

(GK/JM)