Source: www.fibre2fashion.com
The European Parliament took a welcomed and necessary step by voting a resolution calling for stronger market surveillance, reinforced customs controls and faster enforcement of the Digital Services Act in case of infringements. For Europe’s textile and clothing manufacturers, this is the first political acknowledgement that the system is broken — and that enforcement must finally match the scale of the problem.
This breakthrough follows months of intense mobilisation by EURATEX and its members: the Declaration against ultra fast-fashion in Paris during Première Vision, the joint industry call for a fair and safe e-commerce environment, and various high-level meetings with Commission officials (joined by consumers, trade unions and retailers). Awareness has risen sharply — in the media, in national capitals, in Brussels.
But even as momentum builds, we are witnessing developments that risk undoing everything. National postal operators in countries such as Poland, France and Italy are now entering into partnerships with platforms like Temu, pledging to accelerate the delivery of precisely those parcels that escape EU rules and undermine compliant European businesses and put consumers at risk by undermining well established rules to protect exactly those customers from harm.
If Member States and EU institutions do not act now — decisively and coherently — Europe’s own standards will become meaningless, and a vital industrial ecosystem will fade. The solution is straightforward and overdue: we expect to end the de minimis exemption, the application of customs, VAT and safety rules to all, the enforcement of the DSA with speed to stop giving foreign ultra-fast fashion players a free pass. The forthcoming ECOFIN meeting of 12 December should be an important milestone in this process.
