Activities of Marina MESURE related to 2022/2171(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on an EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles
Amendments (25)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Is of the the opinion that to reap the benefits of the strategy for textiles, the premisses is to drastically curb the quantity of textiles placed on the market; underlines further that any environmental gains made through circularity or cleaner production could be canceled out if production and consumption model, known as fast-fashion, continue to extract natural resources at current rates;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1 a. Notes with regret the de- industrialisation and its consequent loss of know-how in Europe caused by decades of neoliberal relocation policies, supporting a devastating model for the planet and the people, the "fast-fashion";
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1 b. Underlines that fast-fashion models encourage mass consumption of poor quality clothes, often unrecyclable, and at the expense of workers' social rights;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1 c. Considers that the Ecolabel should always set the bar by being the top- performing label and a benchmark for other labels; calls on the Commission to seize the revision of the eco-label Directive and textile labeling legislation as an opportunity to drastically reduce the number of green labels and harmonise their criterion; notes for instance that the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF), initiative led by the industry, is not sufficient as such, as it does not disclose information on microplastics nor social aspects;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 d (new)
Paragraph -1 d (new)
-1 d. Notes that 77% of EU citizens prefer to repair their products instead of buying new ones, while at least 60% are keen on buying second-hand items of all sorts1a; _________________ 1a Eurobarometer survey (No. 388,2014) available here: https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/api/flash /fl_388_en.pdf
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that more than 99 % of the EU textiles ecosystem consists of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); underlines that EU textiles companies face intense competition from Asia, mainly China1 ,grets that the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textile does not recognise the value of the industry´s labour, in particular of the role of women workers; recalls that more than 99 % of the EU textiles ecosystem consists of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); underlines that EU workers in the textile sector face intense social dumping from third-countries, mainly Asia, including by many EU textile companies who have been outsourcing their production to non- EU countries where environmental and social regulations are less strict or non- existent; _________________ 1 European Commission, Directorate- General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, ‘Data on the EU Textile Ecosystem and its Competitiveness: final report’. calls on national authorities to step up their effort on market surveillance and customs checks, in particular regarding counterfeits and REACH violations through online platforms, such as Shein, in order to restore a proper level playing field for European companies; recommends the Commission to introduce deterrent penalties for non-compliance compliance with the forthcoming Ecodesign requirements for textiles set through the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation; notes that several investigations reported that up to 15%1a of textile products imported in the EU failed to comply with REACH; _________________ 1a https://www.greenpeace.de/publikationen/ S04261_Konsumwende_StudieEN_Mehr %20Schein_v9.pdf
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Underlines that the Corporate Due Diligence Directive is key to ensure a level playing field; calls for the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) to include due diligence aspects within its scope; calls for the ESPR to ensure that an importer is responsible for products produced in third countries which it places on the EU market and that online marketplaces are not able to bypass EU rules and requirements;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that ever-increasing regulation, which directly and indirectly affects the EU textiles industry, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic andCalls on the Commission and the Member States to implement additional regulations promoting sustainable business models, especially for SMEs which are an essential driving force; invites the Commission and Member State to support the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, is seriously threatening the competitiveness of EU businesse of more sustainable textiles, such as linen and hemp, which production and know-how has been lost after decades of relocation policies; calls onfor the Commission and the Member States to only implement additional regulations if they facilitate sustainable business models, as many obligations drastically incextended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme to support the activities of social enterprises active in used textiles management, providing local jobs and trainings, to unleash the full potential of reause costs, especially for SMEsapacities in the EU, as separate collection of textiles will be mandatory from 1 January 2025;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Insists on the need to drastically reduce the use of synthetic fibres, which are mainly fossil-based and lead to microplastic pollution; further notes that binding design requirement, including binding targets to reduce mixed-material composition would help recyclability in Europe;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Acknowledges the challengesessential need to achieving a fully circular business model for textile companies, in particular owing to current technological and physical conthrough a qualified workforce and technological innovation by supporting sustraints onable production processes and recycling, such as the use of chemicals, the lackreduction of chemicals, the development of sustainable and local productions such as wool and hemp, ambitious social targets, the enhancement of circular design, digitalisation gaps and the workforce’s up- and reskilling needs; agrees with the Commission that the production of clothing from recycled bottles is not consistent with the circular model for PET bottles; welcomes the proposal of the Commission to ban the destruction of unsold or returned textiles, under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and calls for the Digital Product Passport to be harnessed as a tool for mandatary disclosure and reporting of unsold and returned volumes; underlines the necessity to cover all stakeholders, including SMEs, considering most of them are subsidiaries;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Underlines that the public sector in the EU is an important buyer of textile products and has considerable purchasing power in the market; notes that in the European Green Deal Investment Plan, the Commission has committed to proposing minimum mandatory green criteria or targets for public procurements in sectoral initiatives, EU funding or product-specific legislation;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Underlines the huge untapped potential of public procurements in supporting circular models and local companies with sustainable manufacturing processes; calls for the introduction in all Member States of ambitious environmental and social criterion in all public procurements in the textile sector, together with a proximity principle, as part of a larger revision for stringent on the ‘Made in Europe’ label, a binding EU Ecolabel and mandatory Green Public Procurement criteria;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Points to the need to introduce reuse tenders in public procurements, especially for workwear and textiled furnitures;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Subheading 1 a (new)
Subheading 1 a (new)
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3 d. Underlines that unfair competition practices such as greenwashing and misleading claims are widespread in the textile and garment industry and that well-informed choices can help drive demand to quality clothes, less damageable for the environment and for a supply chain that respect social regulations and due diligence requirements;
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3 e. Considers green washing as unfair competition towards SMEs truly committed to greener manufacturing processes and particularly misleading for consumers;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 f (new)
Paragraph 3 f (new)
3 f. Supports the creation of a Digital Product Passport for textiles based on mandatory on value chain traceability, including suppliers and factory information along all steps of the production (Cut Make Trim, washing, dyeing, fabric, harm, trims and tanneries) as well as of the sourcing countries for the main agricultural commodities, complemented with environmental and social information; highlights in this regard the existing standard developed in 2021 by the UN Economic Commission for Europe on "Traceability and Transparency in the Textile and Leather Sector"; recommends implementation of a QR code redirecting to all this information;
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 g (new)
Paragraph 3 g (new)
3 g. Insists on the Digital Product Passport to be user-friendly in order to foster environmentally and socially responsible consumers choices, as well as up-to-date and according to open data standards; notes that traceability is more and more a demand from consumers; stresses further that full traceability, including of fibre production, material sourcing and manufacturing stages, is key to proper implementation of European sanctions and due diligence requirements, as shown in cases of forced labour in cotton field in Uzbekistan, or more recently with forced Uighurs labour and Chinese “cotton laundering” to neighbouring countries;
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 h (new)
Paragraph 3 h (new)
3 h. Points to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global Rights Index as a good standards for the Digital Product Passeport methodology on social rights;
Amendment 101 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 i (new)
Paragraph 3 i (new)
Amendment 102 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines that research and innovation is key, both in reuse and recycling sectors, is one of the policies to maintaining the EU textiles industry’s leading position in innovation2 , especially in sustainable fibres such as bio-based fibrfor switching to bio-based fibres while at the same time supporting more sustainable manufacturing processes, in inventing and scaling upupporting circular production and recycling technologies,, especially fibre to fibre recycling; insists on the necessity to provide operational and fin harnessing the opportunities offered by digitalisation, e.g. with the Digital Product Passport or smartancial public support to the development of innovative collection and sorting methods to increase local reuse and recycling capacities; warns against technological solutionism in the field of microplastic shedding; is of the opinion that the premises should be to considerably reduce the amount of textile products made of synthetic fibres and other fossil-based textiles; _________________ 2 Ibid.
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes that mandatory requirements to regulate the export of textiles waste outside the EU needs to go hand in hand with strong supports to local reuse and recycling activities;
Amendment 114 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Calls on the Commission to set ambitious and mandatory targets to reduce the water footprint of the textile industry;
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls that several EU funding opportunities exist, such as via Cluster 2 of Horizon Europe or the European Innovation Council; calls for the creation of an EU research and innovation agenda aligned with the transition pathway for the textiles ecosystem; underlines the leading role the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) on Culture & Creativity3 and Manufacturing4 should play in this process; notes that the challenge for EU textile is less accessing EU funds than responding to the most crucial crisis of Humankind, climate change, through concrete reduction targets. _________________ 3 https://eit.europa.eu/eit-community/eit- culture-creativity. 4 https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/.