WRITTEN QUESTION E-3382/02

by Samuli Pohjamo (ELDR)and Mikko Pesälä (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 November 2002)

Subject: Promotion of timber building in the European Union

Together with other forested EU Member States, Finland has taken initiatives in various contexts seeking to create a common programme to promote building with wood. The role of timber building and the opportunities it represents will be enhanced still further on the EU's eastward enlargement.

However, there is a risk that the prices of sawmill products will be forced down if even more producers of timber goods appear on the single market. Particular attention should be paid to price stability on the market, so that producers of machine-processed timber products in the new Member States do not find themselves in difficulties.

At the same time, there is a need to boost demand by means of special timber building programmes. Timber building is an environmentally friendly alternative in many respects, provided the timber production chain operates in a sustainable manner.

What measures does the Commission propose to take to promote timber building in the European Union and how will it guarantee market price stability when the EU is enlarged?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(30 January 2003)

The Commission agrees with the Honourable Members that eastward expansion of the Union offers significant challenges for the forestry, wood and furniture sectors. The presence of substantial forest resources offers a quality raw material in relative abundance to the forest-based and furniture industries. However, in order to mobilise these timber resources economically in keeping with the environmental, social and cultural functions which the forests have to fulfil, will require significant investment in plant, governance and infrastructures. On the consumption side, the extent to which the domestic markets of the new Member States will absorb increased output will depend on the growth of their economies and on the choices of consumers.

The Commission would agree also that the use of timber in buildings can represent a sustainable use of resources. Timber is, moreover, one of those materials which is likely to be used more and more in the building trade, both as a basic material and in components for assembly.

Given that the utilisation of new knowledge and the development of new techniques have helped to put timber in much the same position as concrete and steel, appropriate technical specifications need to be drawn up both to harmonise elements of design and to ensure the free movement of products and assembled kits.

In order to provide a framework for the internal market in construction products, the Commission, under Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products(1), has issued various standardisation mandates to the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) to draw up appropriate technical specifications which will allow the Community mark to be granted to timber products, assemblies and kits, thus enabling these products to benefit from all the opportunities opened up by European standardisation.

In addition, the Commission is continuing to monitor closely, and lend substantial support to, the drafting and promotion of Eurocode No 5 (the specific code for the design of timber structures), drawn up by the CEN's TC 250 Committee.

It was against this background also that the Enhanced Use of Wood was one of the key themes of the Forest-based Industries Forum, held in Stockholm in June 2001. This permitted a wide ranging discussion of the challenges involved, and the issues raised continue to be discussed under the auspices of the Commission's Advisory Committee on the Forestry and Forest-based Industries in co-operation with the industry and its organisations.

At a more general level, the 6th Community Environmental Action Plan, adopted by the Parliament in July 2002, proposes to stimulate the increase of market share for sustainably produced wood, inter alia, through certification for sustainable forest management and encouraging the labelling of related products. However, the Commission can not directly promote the use of any particular material, whether wood or otherwise, nor can it intervene to ensure market price stability.

(1) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989.