#Europe

2026-02-12

Antwerp Declaration community urges EU leaders to deliver emergency measures as Europe’s competitiveness crisis deepens

European Industry Summit 2026 © 2026 EURATEX

EURATEX, representing the European textile and fashion industry, joins the Antwerp Declaration Community’s call on EU Heads of State and Government to adopt emergency measures that restore industrial competitiveness and deliver tangible results for Europe’s manufacturing base in 2026.

The call was made at the European Industry Summit, which brought together over 500 business leaders, 30 factory workers, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, under the auspices of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. Senior EU leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, as well as Executive Vice-Presidents Teresa Ribera and Stéphane Séjourné, and Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, also joined the discussions — underscoring the growing political urgency of Europe’s industrial competitiveness crisis.

The European Industry Summit urged a coordinated package focused on:

Reducing energy and carbon costs to restore competitiveness;

Ensuring fair competition through strong trade instruments and enforcement;

Boosting demand for EU-made products, including via public procurement and transparency tools that empower buyers.

With 200,000 companies and 1.3 million workers, Europe’s textile and fashion ecosystem produces not only apparel, but also technical textiles for medical, automotive and defence applications. Yet the sector is facing mounting pressure from high energy costs and millions of non-compliant, low-quality products entering the EU market via online platforms, undermining responsible manufacturers and accelerating closures across Member States.

During his speech, EURATEX President Mario Jorge Machado underlined that Europe must move from announcements to delivery — with measures that directly strengthen demand for sustainable, high-quality products made in Europe, while ensuring imported products comply with EU rules.

“Europe must regain confidence and pride in what it produces, and stimulate demand for high-quality and sustainable textiles made in Europe. This requires three concrete actions: public procurement that goes beyond price and reflects origin, sustainability and security for strategic textiles; increased transparency, feasible for SMEs; and effective market surveillance to stop non-compliant imports from dominating the market” affirmed the President.

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