Germany took over the EU Council Presidency for six months, starting on July 1st, as part of the system of EU rotating presidencies. This presidency will be marked by specific challenges, coming as it does in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. The German EU Council Presidency has already highlighted its principal focus as being on the economic management of the COVID-19 crisis and the EU finances up to 2027.
Additionally, the Brexit negotiations with the UK and Europe’s external stance vis-à-vis the USA and Asia will also take up many resources. Climate protection, in particular CO2 emissions, and digitalization are also high up on the agenda.
Topics relevant to the housing and real estate industry will also feature on the federal government’s to-do list. Germany’s GdW Bundesverband Deutsche Wohnungs und Immobilienunternehmen, the nation’s leading housing association with more than 3,000 member companies, has produced an overview of what could benefit the real estate sector, in particular the housing industry, urban development and spatial planning, from the Council Presidency’s ambitious programme for the next six months. Here’s a brief overview:
Climate Protection: The GdW sees energy issues playing an important role during the German EU Council Presidency, aimed at realizing the goal of climate neutrality. Central to the development of the European economy is the "Green Deal" strategy of the European Commission, says the Federal Government.
Consultations on developing a common European climatic protection law will be pursued intensively, says the government. The goal is to make Europe's climate neutrality binding by 2050, and to calibrate the goals already set for 2030.
Energy Production: Intelligent sector integration is important for the housing industry, the GdW stresses. So, to promote investment in local electricity generation, especially in photovoltaic systems and in tenant electricity projects or electromobility, says GdW, "wherever there are requirements for a spatial systematic connection", ways must be found to coordinate the rights of end-consumers to such an extent that they are brought into line with the objective of local energy generation. What’s important here is the definition of "final consumer" and "customer installation", they say. Furthermore, a drastic simplification for the generation and use of electricity in a local context must be forthcoming.
Digitalisation: Europe must become technologically and digitally sovereign, as Chancellor Angela Merkel formulated for one of the goals of her Council Presidency. As an example, Merkel cited the establishment of secure and trustworthy European data infrastructure. But further digitalisation across a whole range of services and organisations must be foremost on the agenda, says the Council Presidency.
SME strategy: According to the GdW, the German Council Presidency will also strengthen European policy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Here, it will be relevant for the GdW that Germany will press for the EU Commission's SME strategy to be updated so that the interests of public SMEs are also taken into account and the current level of discrimination is addressed.
Cohesion Policy: During the Presidency, another topic will be effective and flexible cohesion policy, says the GdW. Cohesion policy needs to envelop all the regions in order to promote competitiveness and cohesion. A geographical extension of cohesion policy is relevant for the housing industry, insofar as it will allow further urban development policy initiatives in Germany to be eligible for funding, currently not possible.
Green Deal: Germany also explicitly supports the so-called "Green Deal", one of the six political guidelines for economic and social policy reform of the new European Commission. With the Green Deal, the EU Commission has presented a total of 50 initiatives and an initial roadmap for the most important strategies and measures. They are to be implemented step by step over the next few years.
As the GdW highlights, "For the building stock, which accounts for 40 percent of energy consumption in the EU, the Green Deal heralds a "renovation wave" for public and private buildings for October 2020 and at least a doubling of the renovation rate".
Basel IV: The implementation of the so-called Basel IV regulation will probably also fall within the period of the German Council Presidency. Of relevance for the housing industry is ensuring that the financing of social and affordable housing is not made more difficult. For the housing industry it will be essential that the low risk weighting is maintained. A higher risk weighting would have a particularly strong impact on the financing of housing and real estate companies in Germany, especially against the background of new construction activities, says GdW.
Housing Policy: Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Homeland Affairs (BMI) has already commissioned a research project in 2018 to develop a general overview of the programmes and forms of housing policy in the EU member states. This study on housing policy is intended to present Germany’s contribution to the European dialogue during the Council Presidency in order to “improve the exchange of expertise and facilitate comparative assessments of housing policies in Europe”, writes the GdW. The results of the study will be presented at a European conference on housing policy in Berlin on 6th November.
Urban and Spatial Development: In the field of urban and spatial development, the BMI is preparing an informal meeting of ministers in Leipzig on 30th November. Central topics of the meeting will be the adoption of the new Leipzig Charter, which is intended to lay the foundations for sustainable urban development in Europe. According to GdW, an implementation document containing the Urban Agenda for the EU and its link to the guiding principles of the Leipzig Charter is also to be adopted in Leipzig.
In the field of regional planning, the adoption of the Territorial Agenda 2030 is to take place on 1 December 2020 in Leipzig during the informal meeting of ministers.
EU Council Presidency and Trio Presidency: Every six months a different member state of the European Union takes over the EU Council Presidency. In the first half of 2020 Croatia held the Presidency, in the second half of the year Germany is in charge and will officially chair all Council meetings. German Chancellor Angela Merkel held the EU Council Presidency for the first time in 2007.
At the same time, the so-called trio presidency of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia begins on 1st July: Portugal will then take over the presidency from Germany in January 2021, and hand it over to Slovenia six months later. This is to ensure that politically important issues can be coordinated and advanced over a longer period of time.
And, last but not least, according to GdW, we are reminded that a climate-neutral, green, fair and social Europe is part of the implementation of the Strategic Agenda 2019 to 2024, as adopted by the European Council on 20.6.2019. So, don’t say you’ve not been warned.
