The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles announced the review of the Textile Labelling Regulation. As part of this review, the Strategy mentions the possibility to introduce mandatory disclosure of types of information other than those already included in the current Regulation, such as sustainability and circularity parameters, products’ size and, where applicable, the country where manufacturing processes take place (‘made in’). The opinion will explore the different options to expand the scope of the Textile Labelling Regulation, including parameters on sustainability and circularity in coherence with current legislative proposals linked to traceability. The opinion will take account of the industrial perspective, including costs and improved exchange of information along the value chain, and the consumer perspective, in order to ensure correct, accurate and clear information.
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The opinion looks into the needs and measures to ensure more efficient water consumption in the EU by consumers, taking into account the main environmental issues, knowledge gaps and state of play of related technologies.
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The EESC asserts that businesses and workers must have proper channels for participating in efforts to support environmental protection and combat climate change. While respecting the role of national industrial relations systems and the autonomy of the social partners, the EESC considers that issues related to the green transition could be a stronger focus of collective bargaining at the appropriate levels. It highlights collective bargaining as a key tool that can help companies and workers face the challenges of the climate crisis, including the derived costs for companies.
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Since 2016, as requested by the Council, every second year the Commission publishes a report on the implementation of the existing macro-regional strategies (MRS). This is the fourth report, covering the period from mid-2020 to mid-2022. It assesses the state of play and progress on implementing the MRS and examines ways forward especially in the context of the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 crisis.
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The main objective of this initiative is to encourage consumers to use consumer goods for a longer time, by repairing defective goods and by purchasing more second-hand and refurbished goods. It will entail the adoption of a proposal for an amendment of the Sale of Goods Directive and possibly a separate new legislative proposal on the right to repair.
The EESC welcomes the Commission Communication and the Commission proposal for a Recommendation on strengthening social dialogue in the European Union. The Committee is fully aligned with the view that social dialogue can be a beneficial tool to drive economic and social resilience, competitiveness, and sustainable and inclusive growth. Establishing a common effective framework, to be implemented at national level for the involvement of social partners, might help ensure that effective and quality consultations with national social partners take place.
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