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About Us
Alliance of Energy Intensive Industries
Non-Energy Extractive Industry Panel (NEEIP)
REACH consortium "flue dust from cement clinker production"
Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency
ZVC SR - (Association of Slovak Cement Producers )
Hungarian Cement Concrete & Lime Association
Heidelberg Materials Kunda AS-i
Heidelberg Materials Cement Sverige
Heidelberg Materials Sement Norge
France Ciment / Organisation professionnelle de l'industrie cimentière française
MPA – Minerals Products Association - Cement
VÖZ – Vereinigung der Österreichischen Zementindustrie / Association of the Austrian Cement Industry
BACI - Bulgarian Association of Cement Industry
Svaz výrobcu cementu CR / Czech Cement Association
VDZ– Verein Deutscher Zementwerke e.V.
PCA – Stowarzyszenie Producentów Cementu / The Polish Cement Association
ATIC – Associação Técnica da Indústria de Cimento / Technical Association of the Cement Industry
Cementa Industrija Srbije / Serbian Cement Industry Association
Oficemen – Agrupación de Fabricantes de Cemento de España / Association of Spanish Cement Producers
UKRCEMENT - Association of Cement Producers of Ukraine
Hellenic Cement Industry Association
Febelcem – Fédération de l’Industrie Cimentière Belge / Association of the Belgian Cement Industry
Policy Focus
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
Industrial Carbon Management (CCUS)
CO₂ Infrastructure: A Cornerstone of Industrial Decarbonisation
Innovation Projects
Resources
Events
In brief
Creating lead markets for low-carbon cement and concrete is a key driver to support the decarbonisation of the sector. While supply-side investments are underway, scaling low-carbon production depends on the development of demand for these products.
Public procurement plays a central role in this transition. As a major purchaser of construction materials, the public sector can help accelerate the uptake of low-carbon solutions by integrating sustainability and performance criteria into tendering processes.
At EU level, upcoming revisions of key legislative frameworks, including the Public Procurement Directives, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Construction Products Regulation (CPR), will be instrumental in shaping how demand for low-carbon construction materials develops across Europe.
Our view
Cement Europe considers the creation of lead markets essential to enable the transition from innovation to deployment. Without sufficient and predictable demand, investments in low-carbon technologies risk being delayed or not materialising in Europe.
Public procurement should therefore move beyond lowest-price criteria and systematically integrate sustainability, innovation and lifecycle performance. Contracts should be awarded based on the best price–quality–sustainability ratio, ensuring that low-carbon products can compete on fair terms.
As an interim step, and pending the full implementation of EU frameworks such as the EPBD and CPR, Cement Europe supports the development of harmonised approaches to define and recognise low-carbon cement. This includes national classification schemes that are consistent across Member States and provide clarity for both producers and buyers.
More broadly, demand-side measures must complement supply-side policies to ensure that Europe’s decarbonisation efforts translate into concrete market uptake. Creating lead markets is therefore not only a climate objective, but also a key condition for maintaining industrial competitiveness and enabling investment in Europe.
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