Textile PRO Forum: Call for greater harmonisation of textile EPR systems across Europe

The Textile PRO Forum has published a new analysis highlighting the need for greater harmonisation of textile Extended Producer Responsibility systems across Europe. New analysis shows strong differences in registration, reporting and invoicing requirements for textile producers.

The document, Toward harmonised Textile EPR Systems in Europe: analysis and recommendations, presents the results of work carried out by Workstream 1 of the Textile PRO Forum, led by Dr. Eng. Viola Corbellini, Strategic Development and Innovation Expert at Erion Textiles, and Eng. Luca Campadello, General Director at Erion Textiles. The workstream focused on reducing administrative burden for textile producers by identifying areas where procedures could be better aligned across countries.

The analysis is based on input from 12 Producer Responsibility Organisations covering 11 countries. It compares how emerging and existing textile EPR systems deal with producer registration, reporting of products placed on the market, invoicing, payments, producer identification and the role of digital tools.

The findings show that textile EPR systems are developing at different speeds and with different operational models across Europe. Registration may take place through online portals, direct contact with PROs, public authority systems or mixed models. Reporting frequencies also vary significantly, ranging from annual to monthly declarations. Requirements for Placed on the Market data, product categories, reporting units and invoicing practices are not yet aligned.

This fragmentation risks creating additional administrative complexity for companies operating in several European markets, especially SMEs, cross-border sellers and online operators. It may also reduce data comparability and make enforcement more difficult.

The analysis identifies several priority areas for harmonisation, including a minimum common EU-aligned dataset for registration, more consistent reporting calendars, clearer rules on producer identification, simplified reporting options for small producers, predictable invoicing and payment rules, and interoperable digital systems.

The Textile PRO Forum stresses that harmonisation does not mean eliminating all national specificities. Rather, it means defining a common core of rules, data and processes on which coherent national systems can be built.

The findings will be discussed at next week’s Textile PRO Forum plenary meeting, where participating PROs will take stock of the work carried out so far and consider next steps towards practical guidance and recommendations.

“Textile EPR is becoming a reality across Europe, but implementation must be workable for producers and effective for authorities. This analysis shows that harmonisation is not an abstract policy goal; it is a practical necessity to reduce administrative burden, improve data quality and support a well-functioning Single Market” says Anais De Bergeyck, Policy Officer at EURATEX.