On 14 October 2026, IC-Europe President Pat Kirwan presented a landmark address to the European Commissioner for Housing, Dan Jørgensen, outlining the strategic necessity of a genuine Single Market for industrialised construction.
Kirwan highlighted a core contradiction in European policy: asking industry to invest in modern offsite manufacturing while leaving the Single Market fragmented across 27 separate national regulatory frameworks. To unlock scale and investment, Europe urgently requires a harmonised European performance standard (hEN) for 3D volumetric modular construction.
“Standardisation is housing policy. Standardisation is industrial policy. And standardisation is Single Market policy.”
— Pat Kirwan, President of IC-Europe
Three Concrete Action Points for the European Commission
To transform fragmented national markets into a unified European landscape, IC-Europe proposed three immediate, practical steps:
Prioritise the Single Market for Construction: Explicitly incorporate market integration for industrialised building into EU housing and industrial policy.
Establish a Standardisation Roadmap: Direct DG GROW to define a clear, time-bound pathway toward a harmonised standard for 3D volumetric modular systems.
Form an EU Industry Task Group: Launch a focused working group bringing together the Commission, Member States, standardisation bodies, and industry experts.
IC-Europe remains committed to leading technical and institutional collaboration to deliver the homes Europe urgently needs.