European Union

Europe has moved a step ahead in its bid to make products in the EU more environment-friendly, circular and energy efficient throughout their lifecycle with a key committee of the European Parliament voting to to make sustainable products the norm.

The just-released Textiles Transition Pathway of the European Union aims to identify what the digital and green transitions, increasing resilience and competitiveness mean for the textiles ecosystem and what specific actions and commitments are needed to accompany this transition.

Policy Hub, a voice seeking to emerge as one for circularity in the global fashion-apparel-footwear industry, has released a report calling for a harmonisation of textile policies across EU member states.

The European Parliament today adopted with brute majority recommendations for the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles that would work to end fast fashion and help consumers make more ethically responsible and sustainable choices.

Euratex, the voice of the European textile and clothing industry, has urged on the need to stabilise inflation, restore consumer confidence and ensure a level playing field for this industry.

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth under the aegis of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office have come out with a report that reviews unfair trading practices (UTPs) in textile supply chains, along with a case study analysis of emerging best practices.

A report on fast fashion purchasing practices in the European Union paints a grim picture of the tenuous trade relations between brands and manufacturers, with business-to-business power imbalances, giving buyers even more influence in defining terms and conditions than elsewhere. 

Rampant greenwashing in the textile-fashion-apparel industry is now up front on the EU radar as it declared the 'Proposal for a Directive on Green Claims', even as industry analysts call for it to be writ into law by Member States.

A new project addressing the technology-capacity gap in sorting for reuse and recycling to ensure that high-quality raw materials from non-wearable textile waste can be made available on a large scale, is in the works.

Discarded textiles in Europe, including used clothing and footwear, are an increasing waste and export problem. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing shows that Europe faces a challenge in how to handle its own used textiles.