European Commission DG Enterprise and Industry EU POLICY IN THE TEXTILE AND CLOTHING SECTOR Agnieszka Wojdyr Policy Officer Unit "Textiles, Fashion and Forest-based Industries" DG Enterprise and Industry TEXMEDIN Prato, 9 November 2011
Presentation Industrial Policy objectives - 2010 Communication: To propose strategic initiatives following the Green Paper on Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries Communication on the competitiveness of the EU fashion industries To promote new business concepts and technologies for the development of sustainable, user-driven and design-based products The Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue on the future of textile and clothing sector DG Enterprise and Industry 2
Communication: Fashion industries What are fashion industries? Clothes shoes bags leather products jewellery textiles accessories home textiles furniture DG Enterprise and Industry 3
EU fashion industries Economic impact: growth and jobs Social and cultural impact: Promotion of the European cultural and historic heritage in the world Promotion of design and creativity CSR responsible competitiveness Preservation of craftsmanship and savoir faire Strong concentration of the industry in certain regions, often rural DG Enterprise and Industry 4
EU fashion industries The EU fashion industries have competitive advantages: Proximity to market: fast reaction to changing trends Quality and high added value products Vertical cooperation supply chain, manufacturing, retail Availability of technological innovation Creativity, unique savoir-faire DG Enterprise and Industry 5
Fashion industries - new initiative Define and delimitate Quantify statistics, economic analysis Assess challenges and opportunities, competitive position Propose possible actions and measures Study discussions with stakeholders Communication implementation DG Enterprise and Industry 6
Innovation in T&C: sustainable, userdriven design-based consumer goods New demand for more sophisticated products and services: Safety and sustainability Health and wellbeing ageing population Consumers influence on product development, production and customisation How to help companies (SMEs): encouraging innovation, developing specialised skills, fostering cross-sectoral cooperation, etc. DG Enterprise and Industry 7
Innovation in T&C Lead market initiative To accelerate market up-take of promising technologies 6 lead markets including protective textiles (emergency services, hazardous working conditions, healthcare professionals) EU leadership on a global scale Action plan: public procurement, standards, technical legislation etc. DG Enterprise and Industry 8
Euro-Mediterranean Region Share of imports from the MED Region as total of extra-eu imports (2010) Textile 21 % Clothing 20.5 % Share of exports to the MED Region as total of extra-eu exports Textile 27 % Clothing 10 % Main extra-eu markets and suppliers: Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco among top 10 extra-eu markets and suppliers of T&C DG Enterprise and Industry 9
DG Enterprise and Industry 10
Mediterranean dialogue on the future of T/C industry Launched in 2004 Gathers national administrations, industry associations, research centres, trade unions and other partners from the EU Member States and 10 Mediterranean partner countries Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan Annual conferences organized by the Commission DG Enterprise and Industry 11
Main objectives To enhance sharing of good practices among stakeholders in the textile and clothing sector To contribute to in-depth discussions on challenges facing the sector and on possible future directions and concrete actions to innovate the sector To exchange experience and information DG Enterprise and Industry 12
Events within the Dialogue Past events 2009-2010: Workshop on Capacity Building of Social Partners in the Textile and Clothing Industry in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, November 2009, Brussels http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemshortdetail.cfm?item_id=4054 Conference on Technical Textiles and Innovation in the Euro- Mediterranean Region, 11 March 2010, Brussels http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemshortdetail.cfm?item_id=4055 Planned events: 12-13 March 2012 Multi-country workshop on opportunities and challenges for the textiles and clothing sector in the Euro-Mediterranean region financial support for the social dialogue in the textile industry available funding for modernization of the sector affected by the economic crisis programs for innovation and research in textiles and clothing DG Enterprise and Industry 13
Other current initiatives Textile names Regulation Studies on the assessment of the situation of the T&C and footwear sector and prospects for future development Studies on labelling of T&C and leather Marking of origin made in Design Leadership Board European Creative Industries Alliance DG Enterprise and Industry 14
Thank you for your attention Contact: Unit Texitle, Fashion and Forest-based Industries DG Enterprise and Industry European Commission Agnieszka.wojdyr@ec.europa.eu DG Enterprise and Industry 15