INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PAGES
for China or 692 for the US) or in-
dustrial designs (over 200,000 for
the EU; less than 50,000 for the US
and 20,000 for China).
•The T&C industry is challenged for
its environmental impact, in particu-
lar its use of natural resources, ap-
plication of hazardous chemicals
and significant amount of textiles
waste.
•COVID19 has shaken the founda-
tions of the textiles, apparel and
fashion industry. Global supply
chains have been disrupted, retail-
ers are restructuring their sourcing
options, consumer behaviour is
changing.
Against this background, EU policy
makers put a strong focus on the T&C
sector: a dedicated “EU Sustainable
Textiles Strategy” is to be published by
the European Commission before the
end of 2021, and a “transition pathway”
will be developed for the textiles sec-
tor, as one of the 14 critical ecosys-
tems of the EU’s new Industrial Strat-
egy.
EURATEX Vision
The current context offers an opportu-
nity to shape a new European frame-
work for the T&C industry, which is at
a crossroad. EURATEX wants to con-
tribute actively to this process, to make
sure we can develop a forward-looking
business model, laying the foundations
for a competitive and sustainable Eu-
ropean textiles industry.Looking forward, EURATEX ambition is to :
source of competitiveness.
•Emphasises the value of a skilled
workforce, embracing new green
and digital skills.
•Maintains its support for open mar-
kets, based on free but fair compe-
tition.
Looking forward, EURATEX ambition
is to :
A Global Leader on
Sustainable Textiles
Sustainability should become a source
of competitiveness. For this to
materialise, a constructive dialogue
with EU policy makers is necessary.
Several legislations (e.g. Waste Frame-
work Directive, REACH, etc.) or up-
coming policies (e.g. Consumer
Agenda, Sustainable Product initiative,
etc.) have already set, in theory,
progress for sustainable textiles.
•EURATEX strives for a recognition
of the Textiles & Clothing (T&C)
sector as an essential and strate-
gic part of the European economy.However, from the industry perspec-
tive these laws/policies could signifi-
cantly harm the industry’s competitive-
ness or capacity to produce; besides
there is no evidence that these laws
may fully achieve the intended goals.
Therefore, the textile strategy should
roll out measures to support the legis-
lation implementation while boosting
the industry competitiveness.
•Strongly believes in innovation,
quality and sustainability as aMore specifically, EURATEX proposes
to work on the following measures:In line with the EURATEX Charter,
NCM-OCTOBER 2021
561. Circular and sustainable products
need to be clearly recognised and
identified, based on common Eu-
ropean – preferably global – stan-
dards, labels and verifiable calcu-
lation methods. Transparency and
traceability (tools) are necessary,
but should be carefully tested on
their intended use and be product-
specific. We should therefore de-
velop and adopt a Product Environ-
mental Footprint (PEF) which is
SME friendly and not a burden, and
avoid multiplication of standards,
which can be overlapping and gen-
erate an inflation of company au-
dits. The progress on traceability
and PEF tools should be reviewed
against real-life applicability,
interoperability, reliability and effec-
tiveness. Also new taxonomy rules
must benefit sustainable invest-
ment, without becoming directly or
indirectly a challenge for SMEs.
2. To share the cost of the circular
transition and keep the competitive-
ness of responsible European busi-
nesses, EURATEX proposes to
guide those countries who decide
to develop EPR schemes and to
ensure coherence across the EU.
We should also make sustainability
a (positive) business case for the
textile industry: implementing an
EU-wide bonus system based on