16 - 18 aprile 2008

"Shopping Centre industry professionals have been urged to get more involved in the policy making process at both European and national level. Speaking to more than 1000 delegates at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) European Conference 2008 in Amsterdam, Catherine Stewart of Interel Cabinet Stewart European Affairs, warned that policy makers are not always in touch with the real world and once the laws they make reach the statute books, they are permanent and it’s a case of learning to live with them.According to “The Importance of Shopping Centres to the European Economy”, a report published by The European Shopping Centre Trust and ICSC, launched at Amsterdam this week, one in every four retail sales is made in European shopping centres and ICSC is now working with EU Policy Makers who want to be more informed of the shopping centre industry.According to the study, consumers spent €1,110 per capita at European shopping centres in 2006, and shopping centre sales accounted for approximately €500 billion in 2006; these sales are projected to increase by about €200 billion by 2017.

Stewart said that the European policy making procedure is long and complicated and it can take five years to get new laws on the statute book: “So you have to get in early and stay with it to have influence.”

However, Stewart did say that the process is: “Very open and transparent,” adding “The European institutions are keen to hear what you have to say”. She also said that the process is not as confrontational as it can be at the national level and is more “consensus seeking”.

“Legislation can pose a threat in terms of cost or giving your competitors an advantage but it is also an opportunity,” she said, adding that it is important to be involved early in the legislative process in order to shape the debate and future legislation.

“You need to educate policy makers because, in Brussels, they live in this sort of bubble and have very little contact with the real world and you need to go there and tell them what your world is like. How many of them have actually been onto a building site? How many of them actually know how an air conditioning system works? These are the things that you need to tell them so that when they are making the legislation about how green life is going to be they understand the practical implications.”

EU Cabinet Member and EU Commissioner for Energy, Stina Soewarta, who also spoke at the conference, invited the industry to contribute to the EU’s policy development on energy efficiency.

The European Commission is strengthening its Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, the original version of which became effective in 2002. ICSC’s Sustainability Working Group has already been active in explaining what impact this is going to have on new shopping centre construction.

Stewart said: “Brussels pushes the agenda, encourages thinking and provides a catalyst for setting standards so it is very important that you are in there making sure they are going in the right direction.”

ICSC has been active in Brussels since 2007, getting across the importance of the shopping centre business in the policy debate, putting the industry point of view to decision makers and making them realise how big the sector is and how much it will be influenced by new policy legislation. Stewart added that lobbying is important at the national level too because “that is where the legislation will really bite and it will shape the future of shopping centres in Europe.” (CS dell' associazione)