News from Associations and Industry

 

 

EWPA Annual Meeting, March 4-5, 2026

Brussels, Belgium

Thomas Tugler and Diana Borcea updated the participants on the progress of the advocacy work that EWPA and EWPM are doing to promote the interests of the wood protection sector in the EU. Mr Tugler started with clarifying the changing political picture of the EU Commission Von de Leyen II due to the changing geopolitical situation. Work has been carried out by EWPA with the help of the spokespersons of both organizations to adapt the political narrative to the new political situation in Brussels. Priorities for the policy reforms will be to encourage the use of sustainable European materials in all legislation, a coordinated EU Wood waste approach for more circularity and finally a revised chemical regulatory framework that considers climate, health and environmental impacts. Ms Borcea concluded with an update on the three coordinated workstreams (market position of treated wood in construction and infrastructure, circularity and sustainability (waste framework directive, circular economy act) and the BPR Refit.

John Hussa and Bob Baeppler (Viance) informed participants on DCOI, an organic wood preservative that is gaining market share in the US for the poles, sleepers an stakes market. The presentation focused on the environmental impact on both soil and water, on leaching and on the effectiveness and performance.

Mads Korner (Koppers) presented the latest situation of the renewal status of Creosote in both the EU and UK. He highlighted the most important steps in the renewal process under the BPR. Most pressing issues were a revised underlaying calculation for human health and the related complaint to the Board of Appeal of the EU. Another topic addressed was the court case that was lodged in 2023 against the implementing legislation that contained a treated articles list for which countries are allowed to be sold into. Unfortunately the Court of justice ruled last year that the Court is not allowed to rule an removing parts of an approval. It can only revoke the full approval. In the UK, active substance renewal date is 31 March 2026 and it is very likely that it will be renewed soon for a new cycle of 7 years for sleepers, poles and safety-critical fencing (as disproportionate negative societal impacts are likely of Creosote would not be renewed). For renewal of the active substance in the EU the deadline is 31 October 2029 and submission of the dossier is scheduled for April 2028.

Christian Brischke (Thunen Institute of Wood Research) reported on the revision of EN 350, testing and classification of the durability to biological agents of wood and wood-based products. The revision process focused on a clearer definition of relevant terms, specifying details of the sampling procedures, but the main focus was a new definition of durability classes against wood -destroying fungi and the harmonisation of calculation bases. The work started in May 2023 and resulted in a final text (prEN 350:2026) being available since January 2026 and the hope is that it will be published in 2027.

Ulrich Hundhausen (Norwegian Institute of Wood Technology) reported on a recent publication of NTI did together with NIBIO on the service life of wood in outdoor constructions in Norway. The relevant applications included are wood used in ground contact, decking, and external cladding, and the data are derived from field trials conducted in Norway since 20years. Based on data from 20 years of field trials in Norway, the service life (in years) of different wood materials in outdoor applications is provided. Although the achievable accuracy of these estimates remain an open question, it provides a far better decision basis than relying only on practical experience.

Diego Benedetti (European Sawmill organisation) reported on the developments in the EU sawn softwood markets. 2025 was the third difficult year in a row for the European sawmill industry. The industry faced significant challenges on the supply side (high prices of raw materials, and new cost structure which cannot be fully passed onto sawnwood prices so as not to lose market share. On the demand side the hoped-for recovery in the construction market (by far the most important sales market for sawnwood) did not materialize. At the end of last year, activity in the construction market was on the way up – it remains to be seen whether this trend can be sustained over the next few months. In the short term the situation could remain difficult for the European wood industry. There are signs of recovery in the construction sector but it remains to be seen whether they can be sustained and if this will translate into higher demand for sawnwood; after all, Europe has underbuilt for nearly 20 years, there is a drive to increasing renovation of buildings to make them more energy-efficient and increasing market share of wood as a building material. Raw material availability at affordable prices is really the key question for the European sawmill industry: With the aftermath of the bark-beetle crisis causing local shortages of spruce, the industry needs to make an effort to diversify away from spruce and show that pine can perform just as well and satisfy consumers’ demand.

Silvia Melegari (CEI-Bois) reported on behalf of CEI-Bois on the most important priorities at European level for the woodworking industries. She focused on the Circular Economy Act that is expected to include supply and demand-side legislative and non-legislative proposals. Foreseen relevant measures are the reform and harmonisation of end of waste/by-product criteria; simplification, digitalisation and extension of extended producer responsibility schemes and mandatory, targeted, impactful, and implementable criteria for public procurement of circular goods, services and works to stimulate EU demand. The Affordable Housing Initiative aims to deliver high-quality and affordable homes across Europe, supporting renovation, new construction, social inclusion and neighbourhood revitalisation. With the appointment of a European Commissioner for Housing, the Commission now has a clearer political mandate to scale affordable housing solutions. And finally she also touched upon the EUDR and the bio-economy stragegy.

Ramunas Digaitis (Danish Technological Centre) focused his presentation on fire-retardant wood, from fire-retardant impregnation to the EN 16755 Revision.

Willie Clason reported on the work of the working group Poles. He also provided an update of the work of WG 7 under CEN TC 124.

Federico Chiarva informed the participants on destructive tests that his company has been able to do on fibre-glass poles. The pole started to crack almost immediately, and finally broke down at only 200 daN pressure, which is exactly 50% of what the specifications require. In addition, he reported on the initiatives taken against wrongful classification of these fiberglass poles. In Greece and Poland, evidence has been found that these poles are used for the construction of telecommunications overhead lines while being marked along requirements for lighting poles (EN 40-7:2002 instead of EN 14229). EN 40-7:2002 does not address the requirements for overhead line supports for telecom or electricity sector and no applicable harmonized CEN standard or International Standard/Regulation exists that enable the fibre glass industry to standardise their manufacturing process.

Andreas Heidel briefed on the activities of the WG Sleepers that was created in 2024 after producers of plastic sleepers were informing railway companies that wooden sleepers would be banned (during Innotrans fair). The Group developed a brochure entitled ‘Recommendation for the modern wooden sleeper‘ that focuses on the advantages of wooden sleepers.

The Group has also decided to reach out to the different railway associations (UIC, CER and UNIFE).

All presentations are available for logged-in EWPA members. Click here 

Frederik Lauwaert
EWPA Secretary-General