Efa, fashion makes its voice heard in the European Parliament. Ready 2.3 billion for creativity – Corriere.it

An event that marks a change for fashion, which has to deal with the green transition. This is the first round table on fashion policies held in Brussels which took place in the early morning hours of Wednesday 7 June. The fashion industry is at “a tipping point,” said iThe coordinator of the European Parliament’s research and industry committee Christian Ehler during the meeting in the European Parliament of theEuropean Fashion Alliance (EFA). The alliance, founded in Frankfurt in June 2022 and made up of 23 countries, aims to empower a thriving European fashion ecosystem and accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable, innovative, inclusive and creative future. “Until now we didn’t have an interlocutor in fashion,” stressed Ehler. The proposals, in fact, had been put forward only by individual countries. «Me and Pascal Morand (president of the Fédération de la haute couture et de la mode, ed) – said Carlo Capasa, president of the National Chamber of Italian fashion (Cnmi), we held meetings individually, but we understood that in order to have “weight” we had to form a European body in order to have an institutional voice to be able to confront each other”.

During the meeting, EFA presented its positions and ambitions regarding the forthcoming European legislation on fashion. “You are important both for your industry and for the creativity it transmits and for this I want to thank you,” he said Thierry Breton, Single Market Commissioner of the European Commission,— there are many changes you face to adapt and you are directly involved in all our policies. We want to understand how we can help you to take this big step towards the transition together”. There are 3.2 billion made available by Europe for a research program in the creative industry which however involves not only fashion, which will be joined at the end of the year by a further billion for a program on textile research. Ehler launched an invitation to fashion companies: «The money is there and is already available, send your projects».

Among the most important corrections that would be included in the regulation on the eco-design of sustainable products (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Relugation – ESPR, which will be voted on June 20 in Parliamentthere are the regulation of fast fashion and the definition of the concept of durability, advanced by Capasa. Indeed, the president of CMNI would like them to be implemented two points of the European Parliament resolution of 1 June on the EU strategy for textile and circular products: on the 9th, which «invites the Commission and the Member States to adopt measures to put an end to fast fashion, since the current levels of production and consumption are unsustainable» explained Capasa, and on the 40th, which «invites the Commission and the MEP states to ensure that the textile policy framework takes a holistic view of durability, including the physical and emotional durability of textile products placed on the market, describing garment design that takes into account long-term relevance. In Europe «we are working on advanced regulations in terms of sustainability but I don’t see the same sensitivity in the rest of the world. We have to face the fact that many products are imported. These too should be subject to similar rules otherwise there is a risk of dumping. There is only one planet and we all have to work together,” said Capasa.
Other aspects dealt with that we would like to include in the Council regulation are the definition of stock, of what concerns the end of life of a product and the introduction of a digital passport for traceability, but protecting industrial secrecy.