Employers' and trade union organisations representing the construction sector are calling for the adoption of Initiative Report 2025/2133 (INI) on subcontracting chains and the role of intermediaries, as well as amendments limiting subcontracting to two tiers.
CAPEB, the employers' organisation representing small building contractors – representing 96% of companies in the sector in France – and the representative French trade unions (CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT, and FO) for our professions are calling on MEPs to adopt Initiative Report 2025/2133 (INI) on subcontracting chains and the role of intermediaries, which will be put to the vote in the European Parliament on Thursday 12 February. The signatories also support the amendments aimed at limiting subcontracting to two tiers.
In the construction sector, the excessive lengthening of subcontracting chains fuels a downward spiral of prices that is particularly detrimental to very small businesses, which are characterised by low margins and limited bargaining power, leading to the impoverishment of the entire sector. Cascading subcontracting mechanisms, which are often opaque, also encourage fraud, undeclared work, a deterioration in working conditions down the chain, and poor quality workmanship, which is detrimental to consumers.
France has already taken an important step forward with the adoption of the law of 30 June 2025 against all forms of fraud involving public subsidies, which limits subcontracting to two tiers for projects receiving public subsidies for energy renovation or the adaptation of housing for the elderly and disabled.
At European level, the European Builders Confederation (EBC), an organisation representing micro-enterprises in the construction sector at EU level, of which CAPEB is a member, has long been advocating for a European framework on subcontracting and public procurement to combat social dumping and unfair competition in the construction sector in Europe, as has the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW), of which French social organisations are members, which is calling for the adoption of the report.
In this context, the adoption of Own-initiative Report 2025/2133 (INI) would send a strong political signal in favour of continuing European efforts to regulate subcontracting chains and put an end to abusive practices that compromise the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the construction sector.
Donload the French version below.