EU Highlights

N°27– 1ST JULY 2010

IN THIS ISSUE Editorial The Eurogypsum Congress celebrating the 50 years anniversary of Eurogypsum was a real success encouraging us to achieve what is in the heart of our Industry “Sustainable Construction”. EU and Eurogypsum General Policies
New board and President for Eurogypsum For many years, The European Gypsum Industry has been addressing the societal life- cycle impacts of its processes, products and Raw Material and Environment systems for enhancing a pleasant, healthy and
ETS comfortable environment. The European
Commission C&D Waste Survey Gypsum Industry has thus achieved
IPPC recast second reading significant results benefiting the environment and Society as a whole: extracting in a Scientific and Technical Issues sustainable way, rehabilitating quarries,
Political Agreement on CPR enhancing biodiversity, reducing and recycling
Parliament adopts second reading on EPBD production and construction gypsum waste.
Council adopts common position on Energy labelling Directive But the Industry needs to do more .The work
Commission launched tender on Eco- undertaken by Eurogypsum to reach the 70% design Directive study target for Recycling, Re-use and Material
A Directive on water savings in Buildings recovery of Construction and Demolition Waste expected should continue with the application for the
REACH: calcium Sulphate registered with Life+ Programme in September 2010. Another ECHA task is to promote interior insulation which presents many advantages, especially for Marketing and Communication renovation.
Eurogypsum Congress on 16-17 June 2010
Green Homes do not translate to sale success
Eurogypsum forthcoming Events

Bernard Lekien Christine Marlet President Secretary General

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• Manfred Grundke (DE): CEO of Knauf, EU and Eurogypsum representing the German Gypsum General Policies Association. • Jean-Marie Vaissaire (BE): Regional

Director of Saint Gobain Gyproc, New Board and President for representing the Belgian Gypsum Eurogypsum Association. During its General Assembly held in Strasbourg • Jean-Michel Desmoutier (UK): on 16 June 2010, Eurogypsum elected The Managing Director of Lafarge Gypsum Regional President for Lafarge Gypsum Bernard UK, representing the UK Gypsum Lekien as President of Eurogypsum for the Association. 2010-2012 period. Bernard Lekien succeeds the former CEO of Saint Gobain Gyproc, Jean- Raw Material Pierre Clavel at the expiry of his statutory term of office. and Environment

Bernard Lekien is a civil engineer graduated at the university of Liège Belgium. He has also an MBA of the University of Austin in Texas. He joined the Lafarge cement branch in 1982 and started its gypsum activities within Lafarge in 1989. In 2009, he was appointed Regional President for all Lafarge Gypsum operations in Europe.

The newly elected members of the Eurogypsum Board are: René Moretti

• Bernard Lekien (FR): President, Regional President for all Lafarge Emissions Trading Scheme: Gypsum operations in Europe. Member States to opt out from • Claude Alain Tardy (FR): Vice single EU Platform for CO2 President, CEO of Saint Gobain Gyproc, representing the French Gypsum Auctioning Association. Member States will have the opportunity to opt • Alexander Knauf (DK); Treasurer, out of a single EU platform for auctioning CO2 Knauf partner for the Nordic countries, allowances under the EU’s Emission Trading i representing the Nordic Gypsum System (ETS ) from 2013, according to a Association. proposal for a Regulation adopted by the • Maurizio Casalini (IT): Managing European Commission this month. Director of Knauf Italy, representing the Gypsum Italian Association. The draft Regulations says that any Member • Esteban Oyarzabal (ES): Customer State not participating in the joint action would Services & Purchaser Director of Saint have to inform the Commission of its decision Gobain Placo Ibérica, representing the to appoint its own auction platform within three Spanish Gypsum Association. months of the Regulation’s entry into force. • Maciej Dyja (Poland): Managing The European Parliament has now a three- Director of Lafarge Gypsum Poland, month scrutiny period to review the proposal. representing the Polish Gypsum Member states must approve the plans for the Association. regulation to become law, in a vote expected within the next three months.

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Four major Member States – the UK, Germany, Environment Committee adopts Poland and Spain – have consistently opposed the formation a single platform, which has IPPC Recast Second reading helped to delay the adoption of the draft Report Regulation. There have also been disagreements within the European Parliament’s Environment Committee adopted Commission over the proposal, which was the Draft Recommendation for Second Reading originally scheduled for adoption by June 2010. on the Integrated Pollution Prevention and DG Enterprise, for example, felt that DG Control (IPPC i) Recast on 4 May 2010, by 40 Environment, which led the work developing votes in favour to 13 against. the new auctioning rules, has neglected the views of other Commission services and has The Committee agreed on stricter conditions complained of insufficient consultation. for deviating from best available techniques

(BAT i). Operators of IPPC installations would The Draft Regulation can be found here: only be able to deviate from BAT in http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/emissi “exceptional” cases, provided certain conditions on/pdf/proposed_auctioning_reg.pdf are met; operators must be able to prove that

they cannot apply BAT because of technical

characteristics and because it would lead to Commission Construction and “disproportionately high costs”. Demolition Waste Study The European Commission is currently The Committee also backed Mr Krahmer’s conducting a study on the management of proposed minimum emission limit values for Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste in industrial sectors with a high environmental the EU. The Environment Directorate-General impact or where BAT is not properly commissioned BIO Intelligence Service and its implemented. The adopted recommendation partners, Arcadis and IEEP, to carry out this states that limits should be decided through study. the co-decision procedure, following sectoral assessments. The aim is to analyse how to implement the 70% target of the waste framework directive Rapporteur Holger Krahmer (ALDE, Germany) and in this context the study represent a useful said that the recommendation adopted by the tool for the definition of the future steps and Committee was a good start for negotiations trends regarding the management of C&D with the Council of Ministers, due to begin waste in Europe. shortly. A plenary vote in Strasbourg on the IPPC Recast is scheduled for 6 July 2010. The materials considered in the study are: concrete, bricks, tiles and ceramic, asphalt, wood and gypsum. The scope of the Directive remains for installations of 50MW. The countries case studies refer to Germany, Flanders, Spain, Finland and Hungary.

The draft final report is available and will be discussed during a workshop organized in Brussels on 21 June 2010.

Eurogypsum has attended this workshop and made a presentation on Gypsum recycling.

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• Concerning the substance of the Scientific and proposal as agreed on 17 November Technical Issues 2009, Parliament and Council agreed that in 2020, all new buildings (commercial and households) will have to be “nearly-zero energy” buildings. • In 2018 all new Public sector buildings will have to be “nearly-zero energy” buildings. • Financial incentives will be made available to implement the Directive. Furthermore, the Commission is committed to examining the appropriateness of increasing the threshold in the Structural Funds for housing. Yves Benkemoun • A possibility to upgrade existing buildings to “nearly-zero” energy Political Agreement reached on buildings has been inserted in the text. the Construction Products • A voluntary EU certification scheme for the non-residential sector will be Regulation established. The Competitiveness Council reached on 25 May 2010, by qualified majority, a political Council adopts Common agreement on a draft regulation updating the conditions for the marketing of construction Position on Energy Labelling products in the internal market, the successor Directive to the Construction Products Directive. The text The Council has adopted its Common Position will be forwarded to the European Parliament on the proposal for a Directive on energy for a second reading under the Council- labelling. This Directive would apply to energy- Parliament ordinary procedure (co-decision). related products which have a significant direct or indirect impact on the consumption of Parliament adopts second energy and, where relevant, on other essential Reading on Energy resources during use.

Performance of Buildings In relation to the priority list of energy-related The European Parliament adopted its opinion in products and, more specifically, construction second reading on the proposal for a Directive products, windows and doors are expected to on energy performance of buildings on 18 May be included. However, for “intermediary 2010. As no motion to reject the Council’s products”, these will not, in principle, be on the common neither position nor any amendment list. was tabled, the second reading opinion was approved without a vote. The adoption closes Commission launch Tender on the procedure and the Directive will now be published and enter into force. Eco-Design Directive Study The Commission has launched a tender for a The agreement reached between the study on the amended working plan under the Parliament and Council on the Directive is the Eco-design Directive. The study is intended to following: bring together and complement available information on which product groups should be • The 1000 m2 threshold for refurbishing included among the indicative priorities. The buildings was removed. study also aims to give stakeholders the opportunity for early input.

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It is anticipated that the proposed Directive will The Commission also says that the study will draw on the approach and experience of the take into consideration that the scope of the Energy performance of buildings directive Eco-design Directive has been amended, and and that water efficiency will become an should therefore consider all energy-related important element of the overall efficiency of products, including energy-using products not buildings. yet targeted for developing implemented measures under the Directive, as candidates to Measures being considered include include in the second working plan. The encouragement to include water efficiency in contract will last 15 months. The deadline for national buildings regulations, switching to proposals is on 15 June 2010. highly efficient taps, shower heads and low- flush toilets as well as the increased use of The invitation to tender can be found here: rainwater harvesting and grey water re-use. http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/d ocument.cfm?action=display&doc_id=5740&us erservice_id=1&request.id=0 REACH: Calcium Sulphate

Insulation materials are in the forefront for registered with ECHA obvious political reasons, which means that the On 10 May 2010, Saint-Gobain Placo Ibérica Commission will assess the product in a SA submitted the Joint dossier on calcium system, including plasterboards and laminates sulphate. (sandwich panels). On 11 May 2010, ECHA confirmed that the The distinction between kit and systems has dossier is now in the technical completeness been done by the Commission in a guidance check which can last up to three weeks. paper with no clear border. For the implementation of the eco-design directive for On 2 June 2010, ECHA accepted the dossier non-energy related product, it is clear the and gave the token to the Lead registrant- Commission will consider the system as a kit Saint-Gobain Placo Ibérica SA (password to which then can be subject to CE Marking. access the joint dossier by the individual companies).

Therefore, Eurogypsum will propose to the The token is given by the Coordinator – Commission to develop a standard on Eurogypsum- to the legal entities having paid partitions kits with gypsum based wall all their fees. board. The basis for such development will be the guidelines for European technical approval for internal partitions kits for use as non-load bearing walls.

A Directive on Water Savings in Buildings expected Following an in-depth assessment carried out by the European Commission in 2006 and 2007 on the subject of water scarcity and drought and a follow up report published in 2008, the European Commission is said to be preparing a new piece of legislation on the conservation of water in buildings. It is estimated that the EU could potentially achieve savings of about 40% in water use and that binding rules are being envisaged to achieve savings in public and private buildings.

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At the start of the dinner, we had the great Marketing pleasure to hear Mr. El Kouby, the and Communication representative of Mr. Roland Ries, Sénateur- Maire of Strasbourg who gave us a speech encouraging the Industry towards sustainable construction.

Prof. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Hummel

The Eurogypsum Congress in Strasbourg 16-17 June 2010

MEP Paul Rübig (Austria, EPP) who was the sponsor of our event ,made a key note speech and at this occasion we can recall a sentence he wrote in the foreword of the 50 years anniversary book.” In the years since its On 16 June, Eurogypsum celebrated its 50 founding.EUROGYPSUM has made a great years anniversary (50 years Eurogypsum-50 contribution to technological development in years innovation) during a gala Dinner at the construction. The companies in the gypsum Palais Rohan. industry will continue along this path working together through their Federation. I’m A group photo was taken in front of the Palais convinced of their commitment“. Rohan:

The dinner was served and discussion went on at everyday table.

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MEPS Gaston Franco, Jean-Paul Gauzes, Françoise Grossetête, Lambert van Nistelroij, Anja Weisgerber, Martin Kastler, Emma Mc Clarkin, Julie Girling, Sergio Cofferati, Vittorio Prodi were present in the dinner. This presence encouraged our members to have in the future stable and fruitful relationships with the MEPs.

Table of the incoming treasurer, Alexander Knauf, with Daniel Daligand, Christiane Daligand, Hans-Ulrich Hummel, MEP Anja Weisgerber, Carlo Knauf, Arnaud de Bérail.

Table of the outcoming President Jean-Pierre Clavel, with Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, MEP Jean-Paul Gauzes, Christina Herrault, Claude Imauven, Martine Clavel, Mandred Grundke, MEP Paul Rübig.

Table with MEP lambert van Nistelrooij, Rini Quirijns, Henrik Lund-Nielsen, Mogens Nielsen, Hyltje Hiemstra, Odile Gailly de Taurines and Martine Capite the new assistant of Eurogypsum.

Table of the incoming President, Bernard Lekien with MEP Gaston Franco, Claude-Alain Tardy, Brigitte Ehrmann, Olivier Guilluy, Yves Ehrmann, Jean-Marie Vaissaire and MEP Françoise Grosstête.

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Table with MEP Julie Girling, Mike Chaldecott, Paul Lonergan, Ed Allathan, Paul Tollervey, Pamela Chaldecott, Steve Hemmings.

His presidency was a success in the projects he launched (the skimming, biodiversity and the waste project) and in the spirit he did it, bearing in mind the Industry as a whole and

his visibility in the construction chain and at the EU institutions. We will all miss him. Table with MEP Emma McClarkin,Crispin Dunn- Meynell, Donna Edmunds adviser to of MEP Roger Helmer, Elena Antuna, Pauline Topple, The new President Bernard Lekien, Regional Barry Topple, Jean-Michel Desmoutier and President for Lafarge Gypsum launched his Emily Cartwright. presidency with a speech centered on sustainable construction.

At the end of the dinner, time came to say goodbye. Jean-Pierre Clavel, President of Eurogypsum gave his “arriverderci” with Bernard Lekien declared, "I will focus on emotion as he leaves the association and the promoting sustainable construction during my Gypsum Industry for which he has worked for presidency as the Gypsum industry has a key 18 years. role to play in this field. Our contributions are numerous: reduce, reuse, and gypsum recycle resources, protect nature in all activities, and apply life cycle economics in decision making. Through this, we provide solutions that are aesthetic and durable over time."

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We will finalise this memorable event with On 17 June 2010 , Eurogypsum members three photos : visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg under the sponsorship of Paul Rübig and we received a training session on the working of this institution.

The seminar in the European Parliament was very instructive for Eurogypsum members. They discovered a new world and became aware of the real importance of the European Parliament in their daily life. The ideas of Paul Rübig in supporting the Industry were highly appreciated by the members and they will remind his recommendation: once a year have for each of us a meeting with one politician, one journalist and a teacher ! Pierre-André de Chalendar et Jean-Pierre Clavel

MEP Paul Rübig

Green Homes do not translate to Sales Success

Results from new EU-funded research show that home buyers are unwilling to buy new, energy-efficient houses. Poor communication between builders and buyers is a big part of the problem, say experts studying the behavioural barriers to better and broader acceptance of renewal energy. The project results are part of the CREATE ACCEPTANCE MEP Sergio Cofferati and CHANGING BEHAVIOUR projects, which received EUR 3.83 million in total EU funding.

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For more details:

CREATE ACCEPTANCE: http://www.createacceptance.net/home/

CHANGING BEHAVIOUR: http://www.energychange.info/

Eurogypsum Forthcoming Events

STC/ERMC Meeting 15 September 2010 from 10h30 to18h00 at Eurogypsum offices.

MCC Meeting 14 September 2010 from 9h00 to 12h00 at Eurogypsum offices.

Board Meeting 19 November 2010 from 10h30 to 13h00 at Eurogypsum offices.