New EU regulations for the fashion industry will come into force in 2025

With the new year, a series of legislative and regulatory changes are coming for the fashion industry and fashion retailers in Europe. FashionNetwork.com has taken stock of the new laws that will come into force in 2025 and the new regulatory initiatives that will be clarified during the year.

On January 1, 2025, the new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulation came into force. It requires European Union (EU) states to separately collect end-of-life textile products. The regulation aims to limit the destruction of items that could still be used, but also paves the way for large-scale textile recycling in the EU.

Countries such as the Netherlands and France have already created networks for the collection of textile waste, through specific containers or in stores, while other countries have recently had to start creating their own systems. The EU framework directive on waste collection, adopted on May 30, 2018, gave member states until January 1, 2025 to comply.

On the afternoon of December 30, 2024, the regulations against deforestation came into force. At the moment it affects large corporations and will apply to SMEs from the second half of the year. The bill, which became law in 2023, prohibits the sale on the European market of products associated with deforestation and forest degradation.

This law refers to the textile, clothing and footwear industries, since they all use materials such as rubber, leather and wood. User companies will have to demonstrate that the rubber they use does not come from land that has been deforested to make way for plantations. Likewise, leather users will have to prove that their material does not come from breeding farms established on deforested lands. Manufacturers of cellulose fibers (viscose, lyocell, modal, etc.) will also have to demonstrate that the wood pulp used in their products complies with the regulations.

In 2025, the testing phase of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) has also begun. The law was voted on in March 2022 and went through a consultation phase that ended on December 10, 2024. In 2025, the industry will test the first digital solutions that will allow consumers to access product information.

The information includes the names of manufacturers and producers, the composition of the products and data on the carbon footprint and ways to repair and recycle the products. Recyclers will be able to take advantage of this information to optimize the way they reuse materials. A gradual implementation of the DPP will take place after 2025, with the aim of applying it to as many products as possible by 2030.

Uncertain deadlines

As expected, several projects scheduled for implementation in 2025 are delayed. The Product Environmental Policy (PEF) project, originally scheduled to go live in 2024, has not yet left its pilot phase and is being gradually implemented among participating companies on a voluntary basis. Despite speculation, it is currently impossible to confirm whether a vote on the matter will take place in 2025.

What about the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)? In its simplified form, it was voted on last April and will come into full force in 2027. In 2025, individual EU member states are, in theory, obliged to enshrine the directive in their national legislation. But the directive could still be changed in the coming months as the EU wants to simplify certain regulations, as NGOs such as the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Fair Wear Foundation have protested.

2025 should also be a transition year for the European Forced Labor Regulation, which is expected to be approved and formally adopted by the EU Parliament and Commission this year. As for the directive on (green) environmental claims (e.g. “green product”, “biodegradable”, etc.), it will be negotiated this year between the European Parliament, the EU Commission and the Council of the European Union.