Activities of Marlene MORTLER related to 2022/2171(INI)
Opinions (1)
OPINION on the EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles
Amendments (16)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the proposal for a Regulation for Ecodesign for Sustainable Products and especially the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles as a step forward in tackling the challenges linked to textile and clothes production; welcomes further EU efforts on its commitments towards the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, unsustainable consumption patterns, waste, and so-called green-washing; calls on the Commission to publish the proposal on substantiating environmental claims and recalls that sustainability claims in the EU single market should be clear, relevant and substantiated; stresses that actions following the presentation of the EU Strategy should be fully aligned with the Union’s climate and environmental objectives, in particular that of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest and of halting and reversing biodiversity loss; welcomes further EU efforts on its commitments towards the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 12, responsible consumption and production, and SDG 8, decent work and economic growth, whilst still taking into account the administrative and financial burden for businesses that come along; strongly encourages the international promotion of this approach and, including through [AM 8, Renew] strengthening cooperation with partners developing countries with the aim to limit the negative impacts of the worldwide textile industry on climate change and biodiversity, but also to improve the labour and social conditions of this specific market sector;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls the principle of policy coherence for development (PCD) and especially Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which states that ‘the Union shall take account of the objectives of development cooperation in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries’; stresses the importance of minimising possible contradictions and building synergies with development cooperation policy, to the benefit of developing countries and in order to increase the effectiveness of development cooperation; highlights the importance of PCD to enable an integrated approach to achieve the SDGs.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights that the production of textiles and clothing (T&C) often takes place outside the EU and most T&C traded in the EU are imported from third countries; developing countries which generates environmental, labour and human rights risks that need to be identified and addressed; calls on the Commission to ensure a level playing field for products produced within the Union and those exported or imported, promoting green and fair value chains across borders and continents; underlines that moving towards sustainable and circular textiles requires a holistic approach and investment throughout the textile value chain to create opportunities for local high-value circular economic activities; stresses that EU market power must be leveraged to encourage sustainable production practices in the T&C industry, including through the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Sustainability Compact, as a tool for promoting workers’ rights; recalls the need to promote circularity and to implement a life-cycle approach, taking into account the entire chain, while ensuring traceability as well as supporting innovative textiles that are more durable, reusable, repairable, recyclable and energy-efficient; supports actions aiming at tackling greenwashing and raising awareness concerning the implications that ‘fast fashion’ and consumer behaviour have for the planet;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Stresses that T&C value chains are frequently characterised by social and environmental risks that affect companies and stakeholders along the value chain including farmers, producers and workers; welcomes the Commission proposal for a Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive (CSDD) as an important step to address specific problems in the textile sector; highlights that negative environmental and social impacts in supplier countries cannot be avoided through due diligence legislation alone; calls on the Commission to provide additional support to partner countries, notably for local actors; reminds the EU and its Member states that the proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive aims at fostering sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour in global value chains, as a means to protect human rights and the environment; points out that, according to ILO, the current power imbalance between garment buyers and their suppliers, manifested in phenomena such as last minute changes in design or lead times, unilateral amendments to contracts, insufficient purchasing practices and last-minute cancellation of orders, causes overproduction, waste of natural resources and exploitation of workers in the industry, thus increasing the risk of labour and human rights violations; emphasises the need to tackle Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs) in the textile and garment sector, through a regulatory approach;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points out that T&C from Europe are often exported to thirddeveloping countries for disposal; stresses that this harmful practice shifts environmental problems arising from the disposal of T&C to third countries; recommends that T&C to be exported for disposal must be prepared for proper recycling, caused by overproduction and overconsumption, to developing countries; recommends that proper circularity is established for avoiding this kind of harmful practices; also recommends for the capacity to repair and reuse T&C to be scaled up in Europe; underlines the need to also support investments in recycling/repair infrastructure in developing countries and upgrade their capacities to recycle and repair clothes; urges the EU and its Member states to fundamentally overhaul the linear nature of the textile industry so as to reduce the consumption of resources like water and also to reduce pollution and waste - in particular addressing the huge problem of releasing tonnes of microplastics each year which end up polluting our waters and seas, land and air and cause harm to our ecosystems, notably through improving end-of-life processing - and also to use non- hazardous substances, to create decent jobs in repair, recycling and servicing sectors as well as to contribute to effectively reducing overproduction especially in view of upholding environmental and labour standards in third countries; calls on the EU to set up an effective control mechanism for the export of used textiles in order to prevent illegal shipments to third countries, and to establish EU criteria for the purpose of avoiding the circumvention of controls through the labelling of waste streams as second-hand goods;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Recalls that a separate collection of textiles will be mandatory in the EU from 1 January 2025; underlines that the revision of the Waste Framework Directive planned for 2024 should consider specific separate targets for textile waste prevention, textile reuse, preparation for reuse and recycling; underlines that strongly promoting the re- use sector is essential in order to provide consumers with affordable sustainable clothing options, which in turn is an essential factor in tackling fast fashion;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the proposal for a Regulation for Ecodesign for Sustainable Products and especially the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles as a step forward in tackling the challenges linked to textile and clothes production; welcomes further EU efforts on its commitments towards the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals whilst still managing the impact on competitiveness and the administrative and financial burden for businesses that come along; points out that these challenges must be affordable for the affected businesses; strongly encourages the international promotion of this approach and strengthening cooperation with partners;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that working conditions in the textile industry in thirddeveloping countries are often substandard and have a direct negative impact on workers’ living standards due to, amongst others, low wages, poor working conditions and inadequate safety standards; highlights that women are in particular in an even more vulnerable position; is equally concerned about persisting child labour in the industry; , workers’ rights violations, long working hours, limitations to freedom of association and collective bargaining, harmful practices such as the use of dangerous chemicals or other health hazards, gender-based violence and psychological and physical abuse; recalls that human rights violations associated with T&C value chains occurring in producing countries can often be attributed to weak laws or lack of enforcement of existing laws; emphasizes that, when violations do occur, workers face numerous barriers to access or receive remediation for such harm; recalls the importance it has for the sector to reach SDG 5 on gender equality, as an estimated 75% of the employees in the garment sector are women and they are in an even more vulnerable position; recalls that women are hit particularly hard by poverty, economic crises, violence, environmental disasters and climate extremes; denounces the gender-pay gap and the lack of women in senior leadership-roles in the sector worldwide;condemns persisting child and irregular migrant labour, forced labour as well as corruption in the industry; underlines, in this regard, the need for the EU to promote the ratification of all ILO conventions that are relevant for the textile industry in partner countries; reiterates the EU’s responsibility to design partnerships with local actors that promote human rights, democratic processes, good governance, gender equality and sustainability in the textile sector;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Recalls that global textile production almost doubled between 2000 and 2015 while less than 1% of all textiles worldwide are recycled into new products; points out that roughly two thirds of turnover in the EU-27 of textiles and clothing (T&C) are imported with developing countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan or Cambodia holding a sizeable share; notes that most of the environmental impact of EU textile consumption occurs outside the EU, such as 90 % of land use, almost 90 % of water use, 80 % of raw material use, and nearly 75 % of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG); calls for more robust information and disclosure on impacts on the environment and especially biodiversity and also recalls, in this context, with the global T&C industry currently being responsible for 92 million tonnes of waste annually, that developing countries face more difficulties maintaining adequate social and environmental standards in T&C production;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Strongly encourages the Commission, therefore, to supplement the Strategy with corresponding regional and country programming for developing countries in the framework of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI)-Global Europe and Team Europe initiatives, which should promote and communicate visibly around sustainable projects that help to build T&C production and distribution infrastructure which protects the environment as well as social and labour rights., including through the support and promotion of SMEs and social enterprises and that promote governance reforms and better enforcement of laws, in particular labour laws;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls the principle of policy coherence for development and especially Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which states that ‘the Union shall take account of the objectives of development cooperation in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries’; stresses the importance of minimising possible contradictions and building synergies with development cooperation policy, to the benefit of developing countries and in order to increase the effectiveness of development cooperation;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights that the production of textiles and clothing (T&C) often takes place outside the EU and most T&C traded in the EU are imported from thirddeveloping countries;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points out that T&C from Europe are often exported to thirddeveloping countries for disposal; stresses that this practice shifts environmental problems arising from the disposal of T&C to thirddeveloping countries; recommends that T&C to be exported for disposal must be prepared for proper recycling;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that working conditions in the textile industry in thirddeveloping countries are often substandard and have a direct impact on workers’ living standards due to low wages, poor working conditions and inadequate safety standards; highlights that women are in particular in an even more vulnerable position; is equally concerned about persisting child labour in the industry;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Points out that roughly two thirds of turnover in the EU-27 of textiles and clothing (T&C) are imported with developing countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan or Cambodia holding a sizeable share; notes that most of the environmental impact of EU textile consumption occurs outside the EU, such as 90 % of land use, almost 90 % of water use, 80 % of raw material use, and nearly 75 % of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and recalls in this context that developing countries face more difficulties maintaining adequate social and environmental standards in T&C production;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Encourages the customs and market authorities of Member States, coordinated and supported by the Commission, to improve and increase surveillance of T&C imports and exports in order to prevent that goods produced in developing countries under violation of labour, social and environmental standards enter the single market, as well as to prevent T&C exports to developing countries which are labelled as second- hand products but are actually waste;