Developers’ association accepted as UEPC observer member

The Malta Developers Association has been accepted as an observer member of UEPC (Union Européene des Promoteurs-Constructeurs - European Union of Developers and House Builders), with its membership will be upgraded to full membership in the UEPC Conference to be held in Bucharest in November this year.

UEPC is an association of European Developers recognised as an official group by the European Union for consultation purposes regarding EU decisions on relevant matters. Developers' associations from the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Poland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Rumania and Turkey are UEPC members.

Although the UE does not have a Commissioner directly involved with development, there are a number of areas in which UE decisions and directives impinge directly on development. UEPC seeks to lobby on behalf of its members whenever such issues crop up in the UE.

The UEPC has been lobbying MEPs to secure a number of improvements to the proposed legislation on the revision of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, and recently many of its suggestions have been adopted by the European Parliament's Environment Committee. UEPC's efforts are directed at reducing the administrative burden and enhancing flexibility.

These include issues such as the importance of ensuring an appropriate time frame for the approval of projects; the use of qualified and independent experts; limiting the amount of information provided; and the presentation of alternatives to a project that is being considered.