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The instruments to contain and combat the crisis that must be made available to the economies of the European Union and its agents, the companies, are still not enough to overcome the disadvantages of the context – pandemic, war, prices of raw materials, and energy. “We are disappointed with the European Union,” said Alberto Paccanelli, Euratex President.
Paccanelli was speaking at the opening of the double day of the 10th European Textile and Clothing Convention and the 24th Portuguese Textile Industry Forum (October 13th and today, October 14th) at the Crowe Plaza Hotel in Porto. The European Federation Leader said his hopes centered on “the next European Council”, which will happen on the 20th and 21st of this month.
For Alberto Paccanelli, the response to the crisis – which involves almost entirely exogenous items to the industry – has to be given through the “union between all European agents in the sector”, that should be an end and not just means and the insistence on what “differentiates us”: sustainability, circularity.
It will be this awareness of union, Paccanelli reinforced, that will serve, on the other hand, to sustain a bloc that is competitive with the outside and fair with those who want to be suppliers of the bloc of 27 itself. “Fair and balanced”, as said.
Mário Jorge Machado, ATP President, stressed that war is the main problem facing the sector now. In this context, “it is important that the associations, Euratex, ATP, and others, have open channels with political power” so that there are no disruptions in the bloc. “Each bankruptcy is a victory for Putin,” he said, and this rage must stop.
But, for Mário Jorge Machado, the sector also has to worry about the fight – not yet in arms – between the West and China, or more specifically between the United States and China, which may not be in the interest of the European sector. “We have to defend the specificities of the European sector” and insist on them as a sign of ‘made in Europe’.
Even because, he recalled, “we have already shown that we are capable of being resilient as an industry, after having overcome the phase in which we were told we were going to disappear”.
In a crowded room – registration sold out several days ago – the afternoon work continued with workshops with various specialists. Veronique Allaire Spitzer (Regenerative solutions Director of ReFashion), Braz Costa (director of CITEVE), and Helene Smits (Chief Sustainability Officer of Recover) are some of them. Today, October 14th, the visits to JF Almeida, Riopele, TMG Automotive, and CITEVE are scheduled.