Textile Sector to EU Lawmakers: ‘Don’t stitch us up’

The undersigned EU textile associations urge EU lawmakers to reject the inclusion of undefined “extrinsic durability” criteria in the extended producer responsibility (EPR) fee calculations during the trilogue negotiations on the revision of the Waste Framework Directive. This provision, added to the Council’s General Approach at the eleventh hour, contradicts the European Commission’s simplification agenda and undermines Better Regulation principles, which emphasise well-founded and evidence-based policymaking.

As co-legislators meet on Tuesday (18 February) to conclude their trilogue negotiations, the textiles sector urges EU lawmakers to consider the negative impact of these criteria. Allowing Member States to set fees based on non-product-related, business-level criteria would create a fragmented regulatory landscape. This would force European textile companies to navigate inconsistent national fee structures, ultimately harming the competitiveness of the sector and weakening the Single Market.The inclusion of this ambiguous concept serves neither the EU's circularity goals nor its Single Market objectives. It creates a perverse incentive for textile producers to adjust commercial practices to avoid paying fees, rather than focusing on improving product sustainability.

We further emphasise the appropriate enforcement of existing product, digital and customs legislation – as described in the recent Commission Communication on E-commerce or through stakeholder campaigns, such as #Compliance4All – is what will truly protect the EU market from unwanted textiles products.

The move to include extrinsic durability criteria is not supported by evidence and lacks a proper impact assessment. It will neither promote more sustainable products nor ensure a level playing field for all economic operators.

The undersigned associations call upon EU decision makers to uphold well-grounded, evidence-based principles that support both the sustainability and competitiveness of the European textile sector.