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European textile technology platform celebrates 10 years at its annual conference

The aim of the conference was to demonstrate how innovative, high-tech and diversified the EU textile and clothing sector has become in the last ten years.

31st March 2015

Innovation in Textiles
 |  Brussels

Clothing/​Footwear

The 10th annual public conference of the European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing (Textile ETP) took place in Brussels from 25-26 March, with over 150 participants from 20 countries, who witnessed a broad overview of key textile technologies.

The aim of the conference was to demonstrate how innovative, high-tech and diversified the EU textile and clothing sector has become in the last ten years. “Few people would have predicted this incredible transformation of our sector back in 2004, the year when the Textile ETP was launched and incidentally also the year when the last textile import quotas were phased out,” commented Paolo Canonico, President of the Technology Platform.

The European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing (Textile ETP)celebrated its 10th anniversary in Brussels. © Textile ETP

“While it is true that we lost many companies and industry jobs in the following 5-year period, the companies that have successfully navigated this phase are more competitive and resilient than before. While holding on to the majority of its turnover, the industry has increased its productivity by almost 50 % and extra-EU exports have risen by one third to over EUR 42 billion during the last 10 years.”

Access to funding opportunities

The high-level representative of the European Commission, Clara de la Torre, Director for Key Enabling Technologies, the industrial research part of the EU’s HORIZON 2020 research funding programme, highlighted the successful participation of the textile and clothing sector in EU programmes in the past ten years.

She also stressed the crucial role that the Technology Platform has played in facilitating access to these funding opportunities especially for SME’s as well as enabling collaboration with other sectors.

Textile ETP leaders with a cake. © Textile ETP

She admitted difficulties in the start-up of HORIZON 2020 mainly due to the massive oversubscription of the funding calls and invited the Technology Platform to help finding better ways of funding research that will lead to economic growth and job creation in Europe.

Collaboration

The Presidents of AUTEX, the Textile Universities Association, and Textranet, the European Network of Textile Research and Technology Organisations, Dominique Adolphe and Braz Costa, also serving as Vice-Presidents of the Technology Platform, stressed the important role of the academic and applied textile research institutions to ensure that the technologies for industrial breakthroughs for the next ten years are explored, developed and successfully transferred to the industry.

They both confirmed that since the launch of the Textile ETP, collaboration between industry and the textile research community has become closer and more constructive, confirming Europe as the world’s capital of textile technology.

Positive outlook

Throughout the two conference days 20 presentations explored the most promising new technologies and innovations in areas like sustainable fibres, nanofibres, smart textiles, technical textile applications, advanced fibre and textile processing technologies, digitalisation and new business models.

The aim of the conference was to demonstrate how innovative, high-tech and diversified the EU textile and clothing sector has become in the last ten years. © Textile ETP

During the closing session Jean-François Aguinaga, head of the textiles and fashion industry unit of the European Commission’s newly created DG GROW, reminded participants of the overriding policy goal of the EC under President Juncker of creating economic growth and jobs, the related EUR 315 billion investment package and various initiatives that will involve individual sectors, such as textiles and clothing into the practical implementation.

EURATEX President Serge Piolat, as well as speakers for the French and Italian textile and fashion industries, outlined the future strategies of the federations and remarkably all finished on a high note regarding the current business prospects showing positive sales trends based on a recovering internal market and an even stronger contribution from exports.

www.textile-platform.eu

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