(30 July 2021) – A priority work area for AEIDL – the future EU Textiles Strategy, a contract with DG Environment on Green Growth & Circular economy, has provided our organisation with insight into and investment in the textiles industry, both from an environmental sustainability, and a social perspective.

Accordingly, AEIDL welcomes this Public Consultation with its aim to set “in place a comprehensive framework to create conditions and incentives to boost the competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of the EU textile sector, taking into account its strengths and vulnerabilities, after a long period of restructuring and delocalisation, and addressing its environmental and social impacts”.

We believe that an EU Strategy for Sustainable Textiles is the right approach to drive systemic change and to accelerate the circular economy in the textile industry.

We support its aim of harmonising and defining one common implementation scheme, which will allow the sector to contribute to the Green Deal vision of a just transition whilst also supporting the path to carbon neutrality by 2050.

Additionally, we support the opportunity the Strategy provides to enhance EU competitiveness by facilitating greater domestic textile production.

From a social perspective, a greater use of local renewable materials and resources (e.g. water, energy) will support local territorial development by creating jobs. To put sustainability at the core of this industry is fundamental to accelerate the pace of change and drive for a Green Recovery.

On this basis, read our recommendations.