At the COTANCE (European Tannery Federation) Annual Meeting, held on June 12 in Spain, the entity expressed its concern over the scant attention paid by the European Union. lends to the sector in relation to sustainable development. The entity pointed out that the “Textile Strategy” of that community institution is unaware of the challenges and opportunities of the leather industrial chain.

Manuel Rios – President of Cotance

At the last General Assembly, COTANCE analyzed the report of the European Parliament on the “Strategy for a circular and sustainable textile industry” (known as the Textile Strategy). The tanners criticized the leather being mentioned solely to point out that it did not meet the targets adopted by the EU on deforestation.

Leather producers regretted that this Parliament is unaware of the uniqueness of the industry within the textile ecosystem and is not informed about the challenges and opportunities that are presented to the sector on the way to a green transition. The tanners also wondered if the authorities will provide them with any kind of support to make this transition happen.

COTANCE called on the European institutions to promote the advantages of leather as it is an “intrinsically circular economy” material and help the industry face the challenges that lie ahead.

The Confederation pointed out that the term “textile strategy” is misleading because, although the ecosystem is made up of textiles, clothing, leather and footwear, it is identified only by one of its industrial segments. According to COTANCE, this “leads to confusion as to the scope of certain measures” and means that some regulations “do not adapt to the nature of other industrial realities”.

The entity asked the European Union to indicate “clearly for each strategic action the exact sectoral scope, giving regulatory predictability and legal certainty to the sectors of the ecosystem.”