9 October 2025 – A renewed European skills strategy is setting out how the textile, clothing, leather and footwear ecosystem can prepare its workforce for a period of profound industrial transformation.
Developed within AEQUALIS4TCLF, the EU TCLF Skills Strategy builds on the previous Skills4Smart TCLF Blueprint and the commitments of the TCLF Pact for Skills. It provides a common framework for industry, education providers, regions and public authorities to respond to changing labour-market needs and strengthen the sector’s long-term competitiveness.
The strategy is structured around three pillars: developing relevant skills, using skills effectively and strengthening skills governance. These are translated into priorities including closer cooperation between education and industry, more flexible lifelong-learning pathways, modernised apprenticeships and work-based learning, better support for SMEs and stronger action on inclusion and gender equality.
A central element is the recognition that digitalisation, circularity and sustainability must increasingly be integrated into education and training at all levels. The strategy also proposes a TCLF Skills Observatory to improve access to up-to-date information on labour-market trends, occupations, training provision and emerging skills needs.
For EURATEX, skills are an industrial-policy issue as much as an education issue. New technologies, sustainable production methods and regulatory requirements can only be implemented successfully if companies have access to people with the right competences. The new strategy therefore provides an important common direction for the next phase of the European TCLF Skills Alliance.