ESPR: How to Anticipate and Influence Future European Legislation for Sustainable Fashion

Fashion Network

6 days ago

"The European Commission is due to issue a third study report on the subject, which will begin to specify its choices in November this year," said Carrière-Pradal. "This report will be submitted to stakeholders for comment. A fourth and final report will then arrive in early 2026. This will be followed by the work of a European working group, the Ecodesign Forum, which will exchange views with the European Commission to validate the project's political orientations. This phase should be completed during the first half of 2027, bearing in mind that the EC wants to avoid any delays, as textiles are the first sector to be covered by ESPR."
Textiles, the first sector to be covered by ESPR
Carrière-Pradal highlighted that this is the reason why France has moved so quickly on its Climate, Agec, and fast-fashion laws, in the hope of influencing the Commission's work on ESPR. The choice of the textile sector to take the lead would officially be due to a multi-sector assessment of existing impacts and possible improvements. Two points on which textiles would stand out.
"I have a slightly different vision," confides Clarisse Reille. "Fashion is generally not taken seriously. What's more, when we look at the impact of the sector, we see that it's mainly due to ultra-fast-fashion, which has every interest in spreading its problems throughout the sector, to dilute its responsibility. And public authorities tend to be more attentive and benevolent towards sectors whose customers are mainly men. This analysis, which is less rationalist, is shared by the heads of federations."
The head of Defi stresses above all that France, through its existing legislation and the joint work of its federations, will have a say in the final shape of the ESPR. This is confirmed by Carrière-Pradal: "Until recently, France was the only country to have an eco-organisation to manage the end-of-life of textiles, Refashion. But it's also important to bear in mind that, even if the French State has more weight than others in Brussels, the Commission still has an obligation to listen to other players."
The reference document produced by Defi with the support of the various French textile-clothing federations is freely accessible in the Studies section of the forum's portal.