News Archives - EURATEX

Antwerp Declaration community urges EU leaders to deliver emergency measures as Europe’s competitiveness crisis deepens

Antwerp, 11 February 2026 – EURATEX, representing the European textile and fashion industry, joins the Antwerp Declaration Community’s call on EU Heads of State and Government to adopt emergency measures that restore industrial competitiveness and deliver tangible results for Europe’s manufacturing base in 2026. The call was made at the European Industry Summit, which brought…
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Safeguarding the Competitiveness of Europe’s Textile Industry

Brussels, 9 February 2026 – Ahead of the informal council in Alden Biesen, EURATEX rings the bell on the acute need of the following policy measures, if we are to safeguard the competitiveness of our textile companies. 1. Support entrepreneurship and reduce the cost of doing business in Europe: We call for lower energy costs…
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JOINT STATEMENT OF FITA, ABIT, AICP, AND EURATEX

Paris, 5 February 2026 – The Argentine Textile Industry Federation (FITA), the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (ABIT), the Paraguayan Industrial Association of Apparel Manufacturers (AICP), and the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX) continue to monitor the process of internalizing the Mercosur-European Union Partnership Agreement. This agreement is essential for the competitiveness of…
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Why Producer-Driven EPR Systems Are Essential for a Harmonised EU Single Market

Brussels, 26 January 2025 – Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a key part of the EU’s circular economy policy. It ensures that producers take responsibility for the end-of-life management of the products they place on the market. In recent years, however, several Member States have started to introduce State-run Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs). This trend…
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European business associations celebrate the signature of EU-Mercosur FTA

Brussels 17/01/2026 – Today marks a historic milestone with the signing of the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, creating the biggest trading block in the world. European business – represented by more than 28 associations across a wide range of sectors – warmly welcomes this signature. It sends a strong and timely signal that the EU remains open and…
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Strengthening Market Surveillance to Ensure Fair Competition in the EU Textile Sector

Effective market surveillance is essential to ensure that all textile products sold in the EU comply with safety, environmental and consumer protection rules. It is also a key condition for fair competition in the Single Market. Today, European textile companies operate under some of the world’s most demanding regulatory requirements. However, enforcement of these rules…
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Public Procurement as a Strategic Tool to Support Europe’s Textile Industry

Public procurement represents a powerful yet underused lever to support Europe’s industrial base and strategic autonomy. In the textile and clothing sector—supplying uniforms, workwear, healthcare and defence textiles—public purchasing decisions have a direct impact on industrial resilience, sustainability and security of supply. EURATEX stresses that public procurement policies must better reflect the EU’s broader industrial,…
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EU Textile & Clothing Industry Outlook 2024–2025

Production Down, Imports Up, Competitiveness at Risk A challenging macro-economic context for European manufacturing In 2024, the European economy expanded at a moderate pace, with GDP growth reaching 1% (up from 0.5% the previous year). Despite some improvements in market conditions, the overall manufacturing sector remained weak, with performance varying across industrial sub-sectors. One of…
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EPR for Textiles: industry calls for clear exclusion of PPE and medical devices from scope

Brussels, 8 December 2025 – A coalition of European and sectoral associations published a joint statement expressing concern about the early national transposition of Directive (EU) 2025/1892 (the revision of the Waste Framework Directive introducing an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for textiles and footwear). The signatories warn that personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical…
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Another Step Forward for Harmonised Textile EPR

Textile PRO Forum Holds Its Third In-Person Plenary Meeting of 2025 in Prague Prague, 27 November 2025 – The Textile PRO Forum convened for its third in-person meeting, bringing together 34 delegates out of the 23 participating organisations across Europe to advance the harmonisation of EPR in the textile sector. The participants marked the value…
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