Professor of Private Law at Tilburg University, 
Deputy Judge at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal

Postdoctoral researcher, Tilburg University and Hasselt University

That Europe’s construction industry needs to become more sustainable is no longer a question. Global climate developments, concerns about scarce resources and the vast price increases of gas and electricity have only made the need for sustainability and a new circular economic model more urgent.2 Over the past five to 10 years, and especially after the European Green Deal (approved in 2019), policymakers, private parties in the construction and environmental sector and (to a lesser extent) consumers have realised that the construction sector in particular has far too large a footprint. On the other hand, it is also this sector that has great potential to contribute to a sustainable environment with circular, energy-efficient building and renovation. In order to ensure that a sustainable built environment does not turn out merely to be wishful thinking, the European Commission (hereafter: EC) and many member states have pronounced the ambition to realise a more circular built environment in 2030 with the overarching aim 
of making the European Union climate neutral in 2050. Unlike linear construction, circular construction3 must halve the use of primary raw