Yesterday's Coordinated exchange on ultra-fast fashion and third-country platforms, brought together the textile social partners industriAll Europe and Euratex; the European consumer organisation BEUC; Eurocommerce, which represents retail industries; and the cabinets of Commissioners Stéphane Séjourné (industry), Maroš Šefčovič (trade), and Henna Virkkunen (technological sovereignty). This provided an important opportunity to voice trade union concerns. Initiated by Euratex, the meeting took place as the European Commission prepares to introduce customs fees on low-value parcels a year earlier than planned, responding to the billions of non-compliant packages currently entering the EU market.
Against this backdrop, industriAll Europe stressed that textile SMEs and workers face mounting unfair competition as online platforms sidestep EU rules, accelerating a race to the bottom. Countries like France have already adopted strong anti-fast-fashion measures, and the issue was recently highlighted in the joint social partners’ statement issued by industriAll Europe and Euratex.
Beyond the meeting itself, industriAll Europe reiterates its broader demands aimed at tackling the structural problems posed by ultra-fast fashion. These include:
- stronger enforcement of labour and social rules within the EU and on imported goods;
- a genuine level playing field for European producers and workers;
- recognition of online platforms as economic operators accountable for product compliance;
IndustriAll Europe also stresses that protecting quality employment in the textile sector must be an integral part of a Just Transition, ensuring that Europe’s shift to more sustainable production does not come at the expense of workers.
These warnings come amid mounting evidence of systemic labour rights violations across ultra-fast-fashion supply chains. In late September 2025, the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) found Shein non-compliant with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, following an investigation by the French National Contact Point. The findings revealed the absence of strategies to ensure decent wages, regulated working hours, freedom of association, and structured social dialogue. Investigations continue to point to forced-labour risks, child labour, unpaid overtime, unsafe working conditions, extreme production targets, excessive overtime linked to piece-rate pay, opaque subcontracting chains, and risks associated with Xinjiang cotton.
IndustriAll Europe emphasises that the problem extends beyond Chinese platforms to the wider fast-fashion model built on poverty wages and inadequate worker protections. Tackling ultra-fast fashion therefore requires urgent and coordinated European action to defend quality employment, fair wages, and safe working conditions, both within the EU and globally.
Judith Kirton-Darling, General Secretary of industriAll Europe, stated:
“The rise of ultra-fast fashion is putting enormous pressure on Europe’s textile and garment industry, driving deindustrialisation and exposing workers to growing insecurity. Europe must defend quality jobs by ensuring a level playing field, holding online platforms accountable, and supporting fairly made EU textile products, while also standing with garment and textile workers worldwide, fighting for dignity and decent work.”