It is now one year, the European Commission presented its vision for the future of the textile industry. The strategy mainly focuses on reducing the environmental footprint and promoting sustainability and transparency in the value chain.
On this, leading trade body European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX) has said that while it remains cautiously optimistic, there are some ‘important pitfalls’ on the road ahead to reaching this goal.
Euratex claims to represent the interests of over 143,000 European textile companies, still remains concerned about the ‘quality’ of regulation related to the EU Textile Strategy, how it’s communicated to the industry, and how demand can be created for more sustainable textiles in the EU market.
Euratex has welcomed the publication of the strategy, as it recognises the strategic importance of the European textile industry and its core competitive values of quality and creativity. It also said that at the same time, we have warned that translating that vision into reality is a delicate process, as we need to reconcile sustainability with competitiveness. Making the green (and digital) transition should make our companies stronger; the benefits should outweigh the costs.
On its website, Euratex said that Despite these turbulent times, the Commission is moving ahead “swiftly” in translating their EU Textile Strategy into (draft) legislation. At present, at least 16 pieces of legislation are on the table, which will turn the textile industry into a strictly regulated sector.
The quality of this new regulatory framework is critical to the success of the strategy: upcoming rules need to be coherent, technically feasible and enforceable, and have a minimal cost for SMEs. We call for a realistic timetable and “competitiveness test” for each piece of legislation before it is adopted.
It also said that the EU strategy will not work if there is no demand for sustainable textiles, both from individual consumers and public authorities (procurement). Concrete measures need to be taken to offer a competitive advantage to sustainable and high-quality textile products, for example, through a different VAT rate, strict procurement rules, closer cooperation between the brands/retailers, producers and consumers.
Euratex believes that the EU strategy could also fail, if we ignore the global dimension of the textile industry. Up to 80 per cent of clothing products are produced outside the EU; these products need to comply with the new framework, but it remains unclear how to ensure that level playing field.
Market surveillance needs to be stepped up massively – also targeting online sales – but this would require significant efforts from member states, which are not available as of today.
