The joint statement follows the European Commission’s EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles, which aims to ensure that by 2030 the ecosystem’s products placed on the EU market are long-lived and recyclable. It also strives to ensure the textile industry's recovery from the Covid-19 crisis in a sustainable manner making it more competitive, applying circular economy principles to production, products, consumption, waste management and secondary raw materials by directing investment towards research and innovation.

The social partners, welcoming the increased recognition by the European Commission of the strategic importance of the TCLF sectors, ask to be involved at every step of the process and call for concrete action and measures at regional, national, and European levels to ensure that the ecosystem can remain resilient on the global market and provide thousands of quality jobs in Europe.

They also confirmed their commitment to co-creating a transition pathway for a more resilient, sustainable, and digital textiles ecosystem, urging the Member States and the EU to support this process.

Dirk Vantyghem, Director General of Euratex, said: “The essence of the EU textile strategy is to reconcile sustainability and competitiveness. We believe it is possible and that sustainability can become a source of competitiveness. But to make that happen, we need thoughtful legislation, support from the industry to make that transition, and a market willing to buy sustainable products. The coming months will be critical to shaping that conducive environment.”