ESPR: How to Anticipate and Influence Future European Legislation for Sustainable Fashion
Defi is a professional economic development committee (CPDE) financed by the fashion and luxury industry. The committee has called upon the expertise of consulting firm 2B Policy's co-founder Baptiste Carrière-Pradal for its new report. Carrière-Pradal also heads the technical secretariat of PEFCR (product environmental footprint category rules), which recently received the green light from the European Commission for its eco-score dedicated to the professional sphere of apparel and footwear.
Over thirty pages, this new ESPR reference document summarises the most immediate challenges relating to the future regulations, some aspects of which are still being finalised. These include the obligation to publish the number of unsold goods destroyed in 2025, ahead of the destruction ban that will apply to large companies from July 2026, then to medium-sized companies from 2030.
A digital product passport (DPP) is also on the agenda, providing information on a product's durability, the materials and substances used in its production, and its end-of-life possibilities. In addition to the notions of physical and emotional durability (i.e., attachment to a product over time), eco-design, repairability, and recyclability are also on the agenda.
Federations close ranks
"When we started to discuss the ESPR with brands and federations, we saw that there was a bit of panic on board," Clarisse Reille, general manager of Defi, told FashionNetwork. "Our aim with this document was therefore to make regulations intelligible, but also to influence them through the knowledge we have of companies and the field. And all the federations in the sector have mobilised to work together on this project, where they usually tend to do things more or less on their own."
For Baptiste Carrière-Pradal, the significance of these exchanges is all the greater given that ESPR is a pivotal player in the European "Green Deal". At a time when the Euratex confederation is pointing to the volatility of European projects for sustainable fashion, Carrière-Pradal points out that the ESPR has escaped the simplification cycle (perceived as a back-pedal by certain federations and NGOs) recently launched by Brussels. Above all, this text, which could influence product composition as well as establish new quality criteria, will be subject to a tighter negotiating schedule. This leaves a short window of opportunity to influence the final texts.
"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.
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