Textile strategy

EESC opinion: Textile strategy

News

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.