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UEPC and theEuropeanAuthoritiesThe European CommissionIn 2006-07, UEPC had several meetings with various EUCommission DGs, especially with Directorates-General for Taxation and Customs Union, for Transportand Energy, for Enterprise & Industry, and for InternalMarket and Services.35On 17 May 2006 UEPC was interviewed by R. McCourtney of the Manchester Business School, Universityof Manchester who had been commissioned by the ECto conduct a study on the Analysis and assessment ofelements of certain community policies that impacton the competitiveness of the construction sector.UEPC is one of the stakeholders in the meetings on theEU Flood Management Programme and is closelyinvolved in the work of the Soil Committee(DG Environment). UEPC was invited by theCommission DG for Employment , Social Affairs andEqual Opportunities to take part in a working group onTemporary or Mobile Construction Sites that met threetimes in 2007, as well as to speak at a TAIEX Conferencein Prague forHealth & Safety on Construction Sites from 26-27September 2007.On 27 October 2006 a UEPC delegation met with ECofficials to discuss new developments in the area ofmortgage credit.UEPC attended a conference on VAT fraud on 29 March2007 organised by the DG TAXUD.The European ParliamentUEPC attends relevant hearings of the EuropeanParliament.In 2006 UEPC attended a hearing on the EU DraftCharter for Housing and met with MEP Andria in thesame context.In addition, UEPC is a member of the Monitoring andSteering Group in the European Commission frameworkstudy on the Competitiveness of the ConstructionSector (DG Industry). In 2006 a UEPC representativeattended three EC meetings on benchmarkingconstruction costs.A study commissioned by the European Commission’sDG for Enterprise and Industry and conducted by theUK construction economists Bernard Williams Associates(BWA) found that the more industrialised approachgenerally adopted in Belgium, the Netherlands,Germany, and the Nordic countries results in buildingsthat consume significantly less labour and materialsthan buildings in countries like the UK, Ireland, Spain,France, and Italy, which still tend to cling to thetraditional craft structures and processes.In 2006 UEPC met with J.-M. Beaupuy of the UrbanLogement Intergroup in this same context and alsoparticipated in the first Intergroup meeting in Strasburgon 21 March 2006.In 2007 UEPC participated in the debate organised byALDE on housing.In 2006 there were also hearings on public privatepartnership and on public procurement.In 2007 UEPC attended a hearing on mortgages.UEPC has been a member of the Construction Forum atthe European Parliament (FOCOPE) since the latter’sinception.