Textile strategy

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The social dimension must be included in new rules on sustainable products

Key points

The EESC:

• finds that the textile industry has the potential to contribute to the EU's environmental goals, and must become accountable for its environmental impact.
• underlines that the right balance must be struck between the end-of-life costs for textile producers and the competitiveness of the industry.
• supports the extensive labelling requirements relating to the recycling degree and footprint of textile products as a possible incentive for consumers to choose sustainable products and quality over quantity, but this requires a thorough impact assessment and a large-scale information campaign at European level.
• criticises unfair competition practices, and requests increased market surveillance of imported products and better coordination and cooperation between enforcement authorities.
• calls for measures to ensure equilibrium between the actors in textile supply chains and recommends the launch of global sustainability best practices.
• deems it necessary to strengthen existing and future trade agreements, and introduce sustainability and human rights protection paragraphs within the Generalised Scheme of Preferences for developing countries.
• had expected more emphasis on social aspects in the textile sector, notably on workers’ rights and collective bargaining.
• points to the need for sufficient capacity of inspection institutions to assure effective control
• supports obligatory due diligence for all EU companies, with specific support for SME compliance.
• calls for strict measures that prohibit economic relations with entities that use child labour or fail to respect decent working conditions.
• finds that the future Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme should encourage fibre-to-fibre textile recycling instead of false circularity processes.
• calls for national campaigns that promote textile sector labour opportunities, as well as financing programmes for upskilling and reskilling the labour force.
• calls for sector-specific and harmonised social and environmental rules for public procurement in the Union.