Stakeholders’ Exposure to Green Transition Barriers in the Construction Sector

Abstract

The construction sector is central to the European Green Deal (EGD) yet faces persistent obstacles in transitioning toward circular, low-carbon practices. This study conducts a qualitative content analysis of 101 EGD-related policy documents to systematically identify implementation barriers and map them across key stakeholder groups. Four barrier categories emerge (financial, institutional, legal and administrative, and technical) yielding 390 coded references. Six stakeholder groups are identified with 665 references, with EU institutions, national governments, local authorities, private sector actors, civil society and NGOs, and research and academia exhibiting distinct exposure profiles. A stakeholder–barrier heatmap highlights asymmetric transition pressures, showing particularly high cumulative exposure for SMEs and local authorities, and predominantly governance- and regulation-related challenges for EU and national institutions. The findings provide an evidence-based framework for targeting support measures and informing the design of forthcoming empirical research that will directly engage stakeholders to validate and deepen these insights.