EDW reply to the Revision of the Construction Product Regulation (CPR)

On 15 April 2018, the European Drinking Water Industrial Alliance (EDW) contributed to the European Commission’s public consultation on EU rules for products used in the construction of buildings and infrastructure works, focusing on the market for products in contact with drinking water.

In EDW view, as of today, the CPR has had no impact on the market for products in contact with drinking water, because the market is regulated by fragmented and at times contradictory national requirements. In addition, hygienic assessment of construction products in contact with drinking water is still performed at national level and mutual recognition is not applied. These fragmented and contradictory rules impede free trade of these products between EU Member States and hamper innovation.

Harmonisation of hygienic requirements for products in contact with drinking water at European level could significantly reduce the administrative and financial burden on industry imposed by multiple national certification schemes. Such EU-wide harmonisation should be set under a horizontal piece of legislation, such as the Drinking Water Directive (DWD), through the gradual development of an EU-wide list of substances approved for the production of materials and products.

This would finally ensure equal protection of consumer health and the environment and improve the functioning of the internal market.

As a follow-up, the European Commission announced this summer that it is progressing with the review of the CPR, albeit at a slower pace than initially planned, and will launch a new study focusing on the impacts of a more limited list of alternatives for the CPR review.