EURATEX wants stronger customs enforcement, import monitoring, lower energy costs and less regulatory fragmentation as Europe’s textile manufacturing base continues to contract.
Europe’s textile and apparel industry is pressing Brussels for more concrete trade and industrial-policy action, warning that rising dependence on Chinese imports, high energy costs and regulatory burdens are accelerating the erosion of European manufacturing.
Following European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s September 16 State of the Union address, EURATEX welcomed commitments to rebalance trade and reduce bureaucracy but argued that industrial competitiveness still lacks sufficient urgency. The federation highlighted the EU’s wider trade deficit with China, now running at roughly €1 billion per day, as evidence that Europe’s industrial imbalance has reached a critical point.
Textile deficit keeps widening
The EU textile and clothing sector generates about €166 billion in annual turnover, employs 1.2 million people and comprises nearly 200,000 companies.
Yet imports have reached €122 billion, more than double exports of €61 billion, while roughly one-third of textile and clothing products sold in Europe are manufactured in China.
The industry’s operating position is also weakening. In Q1 2026, textile turnover fell 3.0% year on year and clothing turnover 4.2%. Production declined 4.2% and 5.1% respectively, while employment continued to contract.
Industry wants enforcement, not protection alone
EURATEX is calling for stronger customs enforcement, closer textile-import monitoring and faster use of trade-defence instruments where unfair competition is demonstrated. It also wants lower industrial energy costs, simplified regulation and more consistent implementation across EU member states.
Ultra-fast-fashion e-commerce is another pressure point. Low-value parcel volumes have quadrupled since 2022, with average import prices below €9 per item. EURATEX has separately proposed a handling fee of around €10 per parcel to finance effective customs and market-surveillance controls.
Europe’s competitiveness test
For global suppliers, the direction is clear: Europe is not closing its market, but it is moving toward tighter import scrutiny, stronger compliance enforcement and greater protection against market distortions.
The critical test is whether Brussels can strengthen enforcement without raising downstream input costs or fragmenting the Single Market. For European mills, the bigger issue remains whether energy, regulation and trade policy improve quickly enough to keep production economically viable inside the EU.
