Textile Industry In Europe

COMPETITIVENESS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES


INDUSTRIAL MARKETS























Textile Industry in Europe: challenges and great changes
Give a brief presentation of the industry.
When we talk about textile industry we can’t reduce its activity to the mere production of clothes and its subsequent sale. The textile and clothing industry is a varied one andheterogeneous that copes with an important number of activities, from the covert of fibers into spin and weave until the production of a wide range of products such as synthetic hi-tech spin, wool goods, bed linen, industrial filters, geotextiles, clothes and tailoring and so on.
This sector constitutes an important part of the manufacturing European industry and plays a crucial role in the economy andsocial welfare in several regions in the EU-27. according to the last structural available information, in 2006 it had 220 000 enterprises in this sector that employed 2,5 million of people and generated a turnover of €190 000 million. The textile and clothing industry represents 3% of the added total value of the manufacturing industry in EU[1]. It is also an industry based on small and mediumenterprises (SMEs) that don’t reach 50 employees and produce almost 60% of added value.
Concentration of production
The greater producers in EU-27 are the five countries more populated, that is, Italy, France, United Kingdom and Germany, and Spain follows them closely. The production of garments comes from southern countries like Italy, Greece and Portugal and some of the new country member likeRomania or Poland and to a lesser extent spain and France. Otherwise, northern countries like United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria and Sweden focus their production on textile manufacture. However, we can say, that this industry favours much more the economy and the creation of employment in the new State members that completed the EU-27[2]. This marked regional concentration isassociated to a historical specialization and also in some cases comes from monoculture. Some call this fact “industrial district”. A knitted net based on competitiveness, complicities and exchange goods and services and also a concentration,that during crisis time it doesn’t do a favour to the regions with a dependence in this sector[3].
Does Europe have competitiveness in the chosen industrycompared to other regions? What are European companies doing now in the industry?
Competitiveness
It is relevant to emphasize that in recent years the chinese competence has increased , in only fifteen years and since its incorporation as a member in the World Trade Organization (WTO) it turned into the first world commercial power in the textile and clothing industry.

Nevertheless, the Europeanfacturers are world leaders in textile markets and material not weaved (for example, industrial filters, geotextiles, hygiene products or special products for the motor industry or sanitary sector), and also due to clothes of high quality with a good design. To respond to challenges of competitiveness, the European textile and clothing industry has undertaken a large restructuring modernization andtechnological develop process. The enterprises have improved their competitiveness center on a wide range of products with a higher added value. In this way, the thecnical knowledges are Europe’s trick, not only in the designs but also in the manufacture methods or intelligent materials. Only the reseach and innovation will allow Europe to maintain its leader position.

External TradeAccording to the external trade results of the textile and clothing industry, more than 20% (23% in the textile case) of the communitary production it sells in foreign markets, despite the existing limitations to access to third markets. However, there are still meaningful obstacles in the textile and clothing industry, specially with greater and competitive exporters of this sector, and the European...