The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU invites EU ministers to discuss the circular economy and the ecosystems of the energy-intensive industries and the textile sector at an informal ‘Competitiveness’ meeting in the evening of Wednesday 21 July and all day Thursday 22 July in Ljubljana.
The theme of the session ‘Building a green, creative, and intelligent future’ will underpin two priorities of the Slovenian Presidency in the Competitiveness Council’s policy area: the transition to a circular economy and the creative industries as a value-adding element in the economy.
In an explanatory note obtained by EUROPE, the Slovenian Presidency presents a series of data on both ecosystems. It states, for example, that the textile sector employs 1.5 million people in the EU in over 160,000 companies (mainly in Italy, with 40% of European production, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium).
Sales figures amounted to €162 billion in 2019. The EU imports around €80 billion worth of clothing per year, mainly from China, Bangladesh, Turkey, India, and Cambodia.
The Presidency expects to introduce more circularity in the textile economy, in line with the textile strategy planned for the end of 2021 and the need to invest in research and innovation to achieve this.
Concerning the ecosystem on energy-intensive industries, the Presidency recalls that this sector employs 7.8 million people in 548,000 companies. The sector accounts for 4.55% of the EU’s value added, or €549 billion. The sector emitted 673 million tonnes of CO2 in 2019, or 22% of total emissions.
The Presidency recalls the fundamental changes introduced by the ‘Fit for 55’ package to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 (see EUROPE 12764/10) and the recent update of the industrial strategy (see EUROPE 12713/6) to strengthen the circularity of this sector, whose emissions are significant.
Relocation at issue
The Presidency therefore asks ministers to nominate three initiatives at European and/or national level to encourage circularity in the textile and energy-intensive industries.
The Presidency wants to hear the views of ministers on how to strengthen the resilience of these sectors, not hesitating to mention the possibility to even re-shore some production.
This term, which is somewhat taboo in European diplomatic circles, is likely to be of concern to certain Nordic delegations who fear a disruption of the EU’s trade relations as a result of the desire to make the Union more autonomous, as expressed by certain Member States and Commissioners (including Thierry Breton, the Commissioner for the Internal Market). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)