ECED, FIEC, CECE and ERA Join Forces on Equipment Theft

ECED, together with FIEC (European Construction Industry Federation), CECE (Committee for European Construction Equipment) and ERA (European Rental Association) wrote a common letter to Mr. Jonathan Faull, Director General of the European Commission DG for Freedom, Justice and Security.

The aim of the letter was to shed some light on the issue of construction equipment theft, which is of major importance to the sectors which the four signatories represent (distributors, construction contractors, equipment manufacturers, repairers and rental companies).

Stolen equipment is unlikely to remain long in the country where it was stolen. Evidence even suggests that theft of equipment is an activity which is often performed by organized criminal networks extending over several Member States. The estimated annual value of stolen equipment is well over one billion euro per annum. Accordingly, the signatories call upon the Commission to facilitate discussion at the European level amongst all stakeholders with an interest in fighting equipment theft, which could eventually lead to adopting a strategy and subsequent measures for dealing with the issue effectively.

The European Commission responded quite swiftly, by acknowledging the issue of construction equipment theft and welcoming the effort of the signatory organisations to raise awareness on the issue. Moreover, they suggest funding possibilities for proposals on preventing construction equipment theft, and invited the organisations for a meeting in the fall.

To read the whole letter, please see here

Regarding the same topic, the signing parties approached a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) who subsequently tabled a formal question to the European Commission, based on the joint letter.

To see the Commission's formal response, please see here.