Second annual meeting of Glass for Europe’s National Partners

On 29 October, glass and glazing national associations gathered for their second annual meeting, this time taking place live in Brussels.

High on the agenda was the ongoing implementation at national level of the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive which was published at the EU Official Journal in April 2024. Glass for Europe’s secretariat introduced the topic by presenting the secondary legislation the European Commission is currently drafting with a special focus on Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS), the Zero-Emission building standard and Renovation Passport schemes.

National Partners then discussed the situation in their respective Member States. Implementation is only at the very beginning in many of them for several reasons such as political instability or more pressing legislative priorities. Across the EU, the adverse economic conditions result in stagnating or decreasing renovation rate.

The digital and sustainable aspects of the new Construction Products Regulation were also discussed. The assessment and verification systems were an important of the conversation.

The afternoon session focused heavily on recycling. The Communication Chief of the Association of Glass Nordic (AGN) gave a presentation on the recycling work done in Nordic countries. The presentation focused on the missing tools to further advance a closed-loop recycling system and the need to change mindsets and attitudes towards recycling. In this domain, the discussion underlined useful resources such as the website: glazingrecovery.org.

The productive meeting was also an opportunity to strengthen cooperation between the Glass for Europe secretariat and national partners on upcoming projects and to gather input.