The European fashion and high-end industries are global leaders accounting for 10% of European exports. Supporting almost 850 000 companies and 5 million jobs, the fashion industry is a significant part of the creative economy.Therefore, the Commission intends to reinforce the growth and competitiveness of the European fashion industries with a number of short-term actions. To this end, Vice-President Tajani will discuss key issues and ask for the views of CEOs of fashion and high-end industries on the following actions to:
- Ensure that education and training institutes provide students with required skills through better use of existing alliances, councils and working groups as well as more interaction between industry and institutes;
- Foster creativity, e.g. through match-making between new designers and small producers (WORTH pilot project);
- Foster innovation, e.g. through interoperable e-commerce tools (eBiz project);
- Ensure the protection of intellectual property, e.g. through raising awareness about fake goods;
- Seize opportunities for international trade, e.g. through participation in Missions for Growth;
- Form a regulatory framework to sustain growth, including for example the labelling of authentic leather.
Vice President Tajani will also discuss with participants how to better combat counterfeiting which has become a real danger to the industry´s growth and employment.
Amongst the participants of the informal high-level group are the CEOs and directors of renowned European companies, such as Chanel, Falke, Harrods, IC Companys-Peak Performance, Imax-Max Mara, LVMH, Emilio Pucci, amogst others.
