Brussels, January 2008: in an official press release, the Federation of European Parquet Producers (FEP) announced that European parquet sales rose by 4% in 2007. This brings consumption levels to over 120 million sq m a year, a growth in line with the trends in recent years that raises hopes for 2008. The critical points for European companies are still the rising costs of raw materials and finished product price wars. As regards the most popular types, two- and three-layer parquet keeps growing at the expense of solid wood and mosaic parquet.

The primary objective of European Community Standard UNI EN 14342:2005 dedicated to «wood floor characteristics, assessment of conformity, and marking » was the definition of the minimum essential requisites for the fabrication of wood floors. The Standard that had already been advisory as of March 1, 2006, will become obligatory on March 1, 2009, and not on March 1, 2008 as originally foreseen.
During its 66th meeting held on December 3, 2007, in Luxembourg, the European Commission’s Construction Committee responsible for the implementation of the Construction Product Directive and the related CE Mark for wood floors decided to extend for another year the period of coexistence with Standard EN 14342.
This means that the obligation to attach the CE Mark on wood floors and parquet will be postponed for another 12 years and become effective only as of March 1, 2009.

The annual NWFA Convention (National Wood Flooring Association), the most important American trade association of its kind, will be held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from Tuesday, March 25 until Friday, March 28, at the same time as the Wood Flooring Expo 2008.

For more information, go to: www.nwfa.org.

Bosch has signed an agreement with the US group The Stanley Works to buy CST/Berger. This acquisition will give a new boost to Bosch’s power tools division and will extend its product range thanks to the introduction of new measuring tools. The deal is worth some 205 million US dollars (about 132 million Euros), subject to approval from the competent authorities.