Activities of Barry ANDREWS related to 2022/2171(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles
Amendments (18)
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles as a step forward in tackling the challenges linked to textile and clothes production; welcomes, unsustainable consumption patterns and waste; calls for further EU efforts on its commitments towards the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals; strongly encourages the international promotion of this approach and, including through strengthening cooperation with partners; developing countries with the overarching aim to limit the negative impacts of the worldwide textile industry on climate change and biodiversity;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A b. whereas gender equality is a core principle of the EU, enshrined in Articles 2 and 3(3) TEU, Article 8 TFEU and Article 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
A c. whereas Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals is Gender Equality, Goal 8 is Decent work and Economic Growth and Goal 12 is Responsible Consumption and Production; whereas many countries are falling behind on their targets, which Member States have committed to completing by 2030;
Amendment 17 #
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’; highlights the importance of PCD to enable an integrated approach to achieve the SDGs;
Amendment 18 #
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; recalls the need to promote circularity and to implement a life-cycle approach, taking into account the entire chain, from production to consumption, 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 21 #
Draft opinion
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
A d. whereas 189 states have signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which states that discrimination against women "violates the principles of equality of rights and respect for human dignity";3a _________________ 3a https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments- mechanisms/instruments/convention- elimination-all-forms-discrimination- against-women
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points out that T&C from Europe are often exported to third countries for disposal; stresses that this 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; urges the EU to address 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, and to do so notably through improving end-of-life processing;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that in addition to its significant negative environmental and climate impacts, the textile industry also has a detrimental social impact; stresses that a disproportionate number of women and marginalised groups carry out precarious work, ofte concentrated in low-paid, low-skilled occupations within garment factories and in informal occupation; stresses that this work is precarious and often undertaken involuntarily;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Highlights that working conditions and labour laws in third countries supplying the EU with textile products are often extremely poor or not properly enforced; underlines in particular restrictions to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and limitations on paid maternity leave; highlights that women and disadvantaged groups are often in informal employment and do not have access to social security;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Highlights that Gender Based Violence (GBV) has been widely reported in the textile industry; stresses that women and girls in garment factories are particularly at risk of harassment and GBV due to their precarious, low-income employment, as well as limited upward mobility, the location of workplaces and on-site housing4a; highlights that the victims of GBV may face barriers to reporting violence or harassment and calls for employers in the textile sector to ensure that there are robust, gender sensitive operational-level grievance mechanisms to enable workers to report harassment, violence or threats of violence anonymously and confidentially without fear of reprisal; calls for appropriate remediation mechanisms; calls for the inclusion of women in the design of monitoring and evaluation measures; calls employers to provide training and education on gender-equality and GBV to male and female employees; _________________ 4a https://mneguidelines.oecd.org/oecd- due-diligence-guidance-garment- footwear.pdf
Amendment 48 #
5. Stresses that working conditions in the textile industry in third 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 and irregular migrant labour in the industry; 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 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Notes that women in the textile industry are often excluded from decision- making spaces; calls on employers in the textile industry to take steps to ensure female representation at managerial and leadership level and mid-level positions, and to ensure female representation at consultation forums;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1 d. Calls on buying companies and factories to develop gender-mainstreamed Codes of Conduct with policies on GBV and harassment as well as clear enforcement mechanisms; calls on buying companies to include gender equality in contractual agreements with suppliers;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Urges the Member States to ratify the relevant International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and implement its recommendations, especially those intended to reduceensure occupational health and safety and building standards, reduce Gender-Based Discrimination and the scale of precarious work, and protect workers from the harmful effects of chemicals, as well as from violence and harassment in the workplace;
Amendment 63 #
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.
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the proposal for an ecodesign regulation covering textiles, the review of the Textile Labelling Regulation3 and the potential introduction of a mandatory disclosure of information; calls for the inclusion of social and labour standards in both the proposed ecodesign regulation and under labelling requirements; calls for companies in the textile industry to provide detailed information on the status of gender equality in companies throughout their supply chains , in accordance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the future Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive; _________________ 3 Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre composition of textile products and repealing Council Directive 73/44/EEC and Directives 96/73/EC and 2008/121/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. OJ L 272, 18.10.2011, p. 1.
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to engage with civil society stakeholders, including educational actors and gender equality organisations, in order to develop programmes to increase awareness about the working conditions for women and girls in the global garment and textile industry, as well as the environmental and climate impact of the textile and garmentose industries.