Brussels, 29 May 2026 – Energy prices have become a decisive factor for the competitiveness of the European textile and apparel industry. In its position paper, EURATEX warns that high and volatile energy costs continue to place European manufacturers at a structural disadvantage compared with competitors in other regions.
The textile sector represents over 200,000 companies and 1.2 million workers in Europe. Many textile production processes are energy intensive, combining electricity-intensive operations such as spinning, weaving and knitting with heat-intensive processes such as dyeing, drying and finishing. This hybrid energy profile is not sufficiently reflected in current EU policy frameworks.
EURATEX highlights that the final energy bill paid by industrial users is shaped not only by commodity prices, but also by grid and transport charges, taxes and levies, and indirect ETS costs. In several Member States, more than half of the final electricity price paid by industrial users is unrelated to energy generation itself. This creates cost burdens, distorts competition within the Single Market and discourages investment in decarbonisation.
The position paper calls for a truly integrated and harmonised European energy market that reduces structural price disparities and restores industrial competitiveness. It also stresses the need for a viable framework for industrial heat decarbonisation, ensuring that technologies are mature, affordable and accessible to SMEs before transition requirements are imposed.
EURATEX also calls for removing barriers to industrial self-generation and storage. On-site renewable energy, including photovoltaic systems, can help companies reduce energy costs and improve resilience, but its potential is limited by administrative barriers, grid constraints, network charges and high upfront investment costs.
Long-term Power Purchase Agreements can offer price stability, but they remain largely inaccessible to textile SMEs. EURATEX therefore calls for collective PPA frameworks, standardised contracts and public risk-sharing instruments to allow smaller companies to benefit from long-term energy markets.
Without corrective action, Europe risks accelerating deindustrialisation, relocating production and increasing import dependence. EURATEX urges EU policymakers to make industrial competitiveness a core pillar of energy and climate policy, ensuring that Europe’s textile sector can decarbonise while continuing to manufacture, invest and create jobs in Europe.
Read the full position paper.