400 industry leaders met in Antwerp one year after the launch of the “Antwerp Declaration for a European Industrial Deal” to discuss the challenges ahead.
One year after the launch of the Antwerp Declaration for a European Industrial Deal, 400 business leaders gathered in Antwerp on Feb. 27, 2025 to discuss the Deal with European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.
Representing 200,000 textile companies and 1.3 million workers across Europe, the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (Euratex) welcomed the Clean Industrial Deal as a decisive framework to support industrial competitiveness, but underscored that without rapid and targeted action, the European textile sector “will remain at serious risk.”
“We need a level playing field, particularly concerning online platforms that circumvent established quality and sustainability standards,” said Euratex President, Mario Jorge Machado.
Euratex identified four key priorities within the Clean Industrial Deal that need to be addressed to safeguard the sector: affordable energy action plan, to secure stable and competitively priced energy; public procurement reform, prioritizing EU-made, sustainable textiles in public tenders; competitiveness fund for the SMEs, which form the backbone of the textile industry but require targeted financial support; clean trade and investment partnerships, to ensure fair global competition.
Euratex therefore urged the European Commission and EU member states “to move forward without delay in implementing a comprehensive support package for the textile industry,” as explained in a public statement, published on the organization’s website.
