On 23 November, the 2022 EOTA Stakeholder Conference “The ETA Route in the New CPR Framework” brought together nearly 300 participants – on-site and remotely. The event was held at Autoworld Museum in Brussels and included a live stream that allowed at-home participants to tune in.
Policy-makers, construction industry professionals, associations, and regulators took the opportunity to discuss about the future of the ETA route in a sequence of presentations and discussion panels that allowed participants to share their experiences, questions, concerns and expertise.
“Today you will have the opportunity to hear about the ETA route and about how the construction industry is using it,” EOTA President Sebastian Wall announced in his welcome.
Two main segments made up the conference with the first portion focusing on the ongoing review of the Construction Product Regulation (CPR) and hearing from policy-makers.
Gwenole Cozigou presented the European Commission's goals for the CPR and view on the ETA route. Lenka Sedmidubská (Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic on behalf of the Czech Council Presidency) followed with a presentation on the common technical language, building safety and ensuring good cohesion.
A high-level discussion panel and Q&A concentrated on the ongoing revision of the CPR. The panel featured Sebastian Wall, Lenka Sedmidubská, Katharina Knapton-Vierlich (European Commission), Domenico Campogrande (European Construction Industry Federation), and Ulrich Bourgund (Construction Fixings Europe) and was hosted by Rainer Mikulits (Austrian Institute of Construction Engineering)
MEP Christian Doleschal also joined briefly from Strasbourg with a presentation via Zoom to talk about the Parliament's priorities.
The second portion was dedicated to success stories and innovation. Ulrich Bourgund began with a report on how EU expertise can develop into worldwide market leadership. Thomas Bruun (ETA-Danmark) showcased interesting innovations covered by ETAs and explained the ETA procedure.
Kathie Morgan (ASTM International, US) and Shahin Moinian (International Code Council Evaluation Service, US), both partners of EOTA, greeted the audience via Zoom to speak about technical harmonisation and international partnerships, respectively.
Another in-person presentation was given by Alan Brinson (European Fire Sprinkler Network) on the use of ETAs in the sprinkler industry.
A final talk was given by Antonio Caballero González (Construction Products Europe) on CE marking and digitalisation.
The conference was closed with a discussion panel and Q&A session that covered the future of the ETA route. Thomas Bruun, Alan Brinson, Antonio Caballero González, and Guido Sabatini (European Aluminium) joined the panel hosted by Luisa Morfini (Construction Technologies Institute).
The recording of the event and the presentations are now available.