The European Construction Observatory (ECO) is an initiative of the European Commission. It analyses and conducts comparative assessments of the construction ecosystem across the 27 EU countries, providing policymakers and stakeholders with up-to-date relevant information on market conditions and policy developments and more.
The construction ecosystem plays a significant role in the EU economy as the second largest industrial ecosystem in terms of jobs, employing around 27 million people in 2024. It is one of the three largest ecosystems in the EU, comprising 6.5 million companies and contributing 12% of the total value generated across all sectors of the EU economy. It is also key to achieving major EU policy objectives contributing to the European Green Deal, the Digital Decade and affordable housing. In March 2023, the European Commission adopted the Transition Pathway for Construction, setting out the conditions and actions needed to build a more resilient, competitive, green, and digital construction ecosystem. The pathway also supports the sector’s role in delivering safer buildings and ensuring access to affordable housing across Europe.
Developed through extensive stakeholder consultation, the Transition Pathway provides a bottom-up assessment of the scale, cost, and enabling conditions for the transformation of the ecosystem. It identifies six key building blocks for resilience and twin transition, forming the basis of an action plan that relies on collaboration between public authorities, industry, academia and civil society. The document follows the blueprint developed by the EU’s Industrial Forum and draws on contributions from the members of the High Level Construction Forum (HLCF) and a public consultation based on the 2021 Staff Working Document on the Transition Pathway for construction.
The objectives of the European Construction Observatory are
- monitoring the construction ecosystem and its performance in the EU as a whole and in each of the 27 EU countries
- supporting the implementation of the Transition Pathway for Construction and its six building blocks by promoting knowledge and sharing good practices
ECO contributes to these objectives by serving as a central repository of information related to market trends, industry developments, policy impacts and analytical support.
Furthermore, ECO facilitates mutual learning and the exchange of best practices between EU countries and stakeholders, focusing on the definition, implementation, monitoring and assessment of policy measures related to the competitiveness of construction enterprises and their contribution to sustainable development objectives.
The Observatory complements existing instruments at international, European and national levels, such as Eurostat, the annual macro-economic database of the European Commission (AMECO), the EU Building Stock Observatory, the EU Payment Observatory, the SME Performance Review, the European Cluster Observatory, the European Central Bank's publications on construction markets, the construction market analyses and forecasts produced by the European Construction Industry Federation.