Von Der Leyen’s State of the Union address noted Europe needs to rebalance unfair trade, cut red tape, and strengthen its industrial and strategic autonomy.
But Euratex said it regretted that industrial competitiveness failed to muster as much attention as other issues in the address.
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The trade body is calling on the Commission to match the political commitments with an equal sense of urgency on industrial competitiveness, and to place manufacturing sectors, such as textiles, more firmly at the centre of its agenda in the months ahead.
“Europe cannot build a strong defence, lead the green and digital transitions, or protect its social model on a weakening industrial base. Competitiveness is not just one chapter of the European project – it is the foundation all the others are built on; when we get that right, everything else becomes possible.”, states Dirk Vantyghem, director general, Euratex.
Specifically, Euratex is urging action on trade-defence measures including stronger customs enforcement and imports monitoring for textile products, with particular regard to the trade deficit with China, which has “reached a tipping point.”
It wants administrative burden cut, saying the vast majority of SMEs are disproportionately affected by overlapping and often diverging national implementation of EU rules, and genuine simplification would meaningfully improve their competitiveness.
The confederation stresses the need for dedicated support for the textile industry, reflecting its role as a strategic manufacturing sector for Europe’s green, digital, and defence transitions, and ensuring the sector is not left without targeted instruments as EU funding priorities are reshaped.
It also wants preference on technical and defence-related textiles contracts for the region.
Euratex welcomed efforts to boost the EU-Canada relationship, adding it has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with its Canadian counterparts, the Canadian Textiles Industry Association (CTIA) and the Canadian Apparel Federation (CAF), and is well-placed to build on this cooperation as EU-Canada industrial ties are strengthened.
Finally, it says it supports the announcement of a new Mediterranean Youth Skills and Jobs initiative and stands ready to contribute its expertise to ensure the initiative delivers meaningful opportunities for young people in the textile and apparel value chain.
