CECE Congress 2024: Driving Europe’s Industrial Revival

CECE Congress 2024, held in Madrid on 23rd-25th October, brought together industry leaders, policymakers and key stakeholders to discuss the future of the European construction equipment sector under the overarching theme of Europe's reindustrialization. The event on Thursday, 24th October, featured several keynote speeches and discussions, shedding light on the opportunities as opposed to challenges in revitalizing Europe’s industrial landscape.

José Antonio Nieto, CECE President, opened the day's session by emphasizing that:

“The sustainable reindustrialization of Europe is essential for its competitiveness in the global marketplace and a crucial step toward achieving environmental goals. Creating the enabling conditions for this must be the top priority of the new European Commission, also inspired by the Draghi Report.”

José Antonio also expressed CECE's call for the construction equipment sector to be recognized as a key enabler of industrial revival in the new Clean Industrial Deal. This discussion becomes especially timely with the confirmation hearings of the Commissioners-designate, and most notably of Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, taking place in mid-November. The construction equipment sector can help lead the green and digital transitions, driving and facilitating advancements to enhance productivity and sustainability both in its own industry and others.  

Throughout the event, Mario Draghi’s report was highlighted as a significant contribution to the discussion on industry's productivity. The discussion emphasized the transformative role of digital tools, including AI. Regularly mentioned as a key driver, AI has been recognized for boosting innovation and creativity, both of which are crucial in the race to attract and nurture top talent. Furthermore, the event provided valuable insights into how Europe can address demographic challenges and navigate generational changes, offering strategies to ensure long-term competitiveness and adaptability in a rapidly evolving landscape.

The afternoon saw a lively panel discussion on what Europe needs to achieve sustainable reindustrialization. Prominent speakers, including Ana Londoño Botero, Advisor External Affairs of Rio Tinto, Tora Leifland, Head of Public Affairs for Volvo Construction Equipment, Pierre-Nicola Fovini, CEO of Finanzauto, Javier Ormazabal, President of Orgalim, Tim Burnhope, CECE Vice-President offered diverse perspectives on the challenges facing Europe’s industrial sectors. The panel discussed Europe’s path to sustainable industrial growth, focusing on the crucial role of critical raw materials, the importance of clean technologies and the significance of cross-sector collaboration – themes which are of the upmost concern for CECE Mining.

On the second day, an initial session was held to update the status of regulations across the various working groups within the CECE Technical Commission and to report on the actions currently being undertaken by CECE.

These working groups include: Machinery Project, Engine Emissions and Alternative Fuels Project, Electrification Project, European Data Policy Project, 3R Project, Road Circulation Project, and Noise Project.

To continue, an Economic Forum and a Technical Forum were held simultaneously in separate rooms.

In the Economic Forum, top-level speakers discussed the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, market trends and forecasts for the construction sector in Europe, the economic situation of the construction equipment market in Europe, construction challenges, and the state of the construction and mining sectors in South America.

We were fortunate to have the participation of Beatriz Reguero, Chief Operating Officer of State Account Business at CESCE; Josep Fontana from ITEC; Sebastian Popp, CECE Economic Affairs Manager; César Alonso and Federico Faletti from DLL; Chris Sleight, Managing Director at Off-Highway Research; and Esther Yuste, Managing Director of BIG GLOBAL.

The final panel discussion included José Antonio Nieto, CEO of Putzmeister Iberica and Underground; Juan Altstadt, VP at Sobratema; and Anders Hedqvist, Head of Strategic Projects at Epiroc AB.

In the Technical Forum, expert speakers provided attendees with insights on the new European framework for data sharing, including implementation of the law, obligations, access, management, and related aspects.

Participants included António Biason, Legal and Policy Officer at CNECT.G1; Marie Poidevin, Regulation & Standardisation Adviser at Evolis; Onayemi Onabiyi, Senior Data Strategy Manager at Hitachi CME; Isidoro De La Flor, Head of Sales & Service at Deutz Spain; Luis Ángel Salas, CEO of LoxamHune; and Santiago Vaquero, Digital & Technology Director at LoxamHune.

The day concluded with a panel discussion featuring Kris Bické, Telematics Director at Komatsu; Rodrigo Carlés, Technical and International Support at Seopan; and Jean-Francois Sourdoire, Business Development Director at Trimble.

The Congress reaffirmed the importance of the construction equipment sector in driving innovation, sustainability, and growth, in alignment with Europe’s broader reindustrialization goals.

CECE recognizes the sponsors that helped to make the event a true success: DLL, Deutz, CSPI-EXPO, ASEAMAC, AUSA, Blumaq, DICSA, Finanzauto, HİDROMEK, IMPLASER, ITA, Putzmeister, Ritchie Bros., Roquet Hydraulics, SANY, SMOPYC and Solintal. Moreover, thanks go to the CECE Congress trusted media partner, Construction Europe.

Thanks also to the press that supported the event: Construction Europe, Movicarga, Interempresas, Obras Urbanas, and OP Machinery.

Source: CECE and ANMOPYC