The EU Circular Talks is a new exchange concept of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. It aims to encourage stakeholders to interact and discuss the circular economy topics in the platform.

The European Green Deal, the new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and the New Industrial Strategy for Europe identified the textile industry as a priority sector for the EU’s move towards sustainability.

The upcoming EU Strategy for Sustainable Textiles aims at shifting the European Union to a circular economy. In that framework, textiles should be made more durable, reusable, repairable and recyclable. This future comprehensive framework will set conditions to boost the competitiveness and sustainability of the European textile sector while improving the European market for circular textiles. But what is needed to create a functional policy framework for textiles?

On 6 July from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., EuRIC, RREUSE, RVO, SMEunited and ECESP are organising a #EUCircularTalks policy Q&A to bring elements of answer to this question. The event will bring together policymakers and stakeholders at a virtual table to discuss challenges and opportunities of the upcoming EU Strategy for Sustainable Textiles and to ensure a proper future policy framework for textiles.

The event aims first to inform about existing EU & national policy initiatives on textiles in light of the upcoming EU Strategy for Textiles. And second, the section on Policy Impact Showcases will briefly demonstrate what various stakeholders already do today to reach a circular economy for textiles. They will also highlight their concerns and perceived bottlenecks in the legislation.

The event will be recorded and published online.

Draft programme

10:00 – 10:05 Opening remarks

10:05 – 11:00 Policy panel

• Representative from a national government (tbc)
• Paola Migliorini, European Commission
• Delara Burkhardt, Member of the European Parliament
• Gerald Kreuzer, Delegate of the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI), European Economic and Social Committee

11:00 – 11:55 Stakeholder Panel & Q&A session

• Guido Lena, Director, Sustainable Development, SMEUnited
• Emily Macintosh, Policy Officer for Textiles, European Environmental Bureau
• Matthias Neitsch, President, RREUSE
• Mariska Zandvliet, President, EuRIC Textiles
• Baptiste Carriere-Pradal, Chair, Policy Hub
• Roberto Vannucci, Multisectoral Research & Innovation Manager, Centrocot

11:55 – 12:00 Closing remarks