ÉVOSZ: Building regulation needed to ensure a level playing field for non-EU investors

Építési Vállalkozók Országos Szakszövetsége (ÉVOSZ) is proposing the establishment of a construction police force to curb anti-competitive practices in the industry, the organisation announced on Tuesday.

László Koji, President of ÉVOSZ underlined in the statement:

One of the main reasons for the initiative is that domestic construction companies are being squeezed out of the market by investors from outside the EU, especially from the Far East. This is because non-EU firms are making cheaper offers because they do not respect EU and Hungarian rules.

Another reason for the initiative is to prevent "squanderers" from participating in the implementation of the Home Start subsidy programme and the construction of facilities for the expected home renovation and other home creation programmes, stressed László Koji.

The ÉVOSZ release highlights:

The public authorities' control system is based on registers and declarations. But a level playing field would require that their characteristics can be examined along the lines of real, complex on-the-spot checks.

Make the export of Hungarian or EU operators a condition for securing state aid for investments!

Domestic companies are also at a competitive disadvantage by not having an EU or Hungarian supplier share in contracts that provide state benefits, as companies from third countries use non-domestic building materials, non-Hungarian engineering services and "dump" non-EU workers.

They stress that nowadays it must be an essential requirement that the employment of so-called guest workers from third countries serves both to protect the market and to improve efficiency, and that this is done on a level playing field.

They turned to the government

In order to create a level playing field, the organisation has submitted a detailed proposal to the Ministry of National Economy and the Ministry of Construction and Transport on the competences of the Building Police, including quality, employment, residence and work permits and labour safety, as well as on social security, taxation, skills, wages and accommodation.

ÉVOSZ also calls for a specific EU (Hungarian) share for foreign investment, covering staff numbers, domestic construction material use and service provision. It is also proposed that for labour requirements of over 100 persons, use should be made of domestic companies available in the area. The market for the employment of third-country workers would be liberalised, but only businesses registered with the Chamber would be allowed to participate in housing construction and renovation subsidy schemes.