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H M Hennes Mauritz AB

HM Group

H&M makes fashion and quality products at the best price in a sustainable way.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Charlotte Merlier (Cabinet of Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič) and Zalando SE and

19 Nov 2025 · Customs Union Reform, e-commerce

Meeting with Karin Karlsbro (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

18 Nov 2025 · GSP

Meeting with Michael McGrath (Commissioner) and

6 Nov 2025 · Discussion on consumer protection and e-commerce between the EU and China.

Meeting with Kristin Schreiber (Director Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs)

17 Oct 2025 · H&M requested the meeting to present their work towards a more circular fashion.

Meeting with Leopoldo Rubinacci (Deputy Director-General Trade)

16 Oct 2025 · Exchange of views on recent global economic developments

Meeting with Egelyn Braun (Cabinet of Commissioner Michael McGrath)

16 Oct 2025 · Exchange of views on consumer protection and sustainable consumption

Meeting with Elena Arveras (Cabinet of Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque) and WWF European Policy Programme and Ingka Services A.B.

1 Oct 2025 · Value chain cap - Omnibus

Meeting with Axel Voss (Member of the European Parliament)

23 Sept 2025 · Sustainability Omnibus

Meeting with Sirpa Pietikäinen (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Sept 2025 · EU Omnibus I

Meeting with Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea (Director Environment) and Zalando SE and European Branded Clothing Association

4 Sept 2025 · Exchange of views on the French draft law on ‘reducing the environmental impact of the textile industry’ that was notified on 27 June 2025 to the Commission via the TRIS procedure

Meeting with Lara Wolters (Member of the European Parliament)

3 Jun 2025 · EU Textile Strategy

Meeting with Luis Planas Herrera (Cabinet of Commissioner Jessika Roswall), Paulina Dejmek Hack (Cabinet of Commissioner Jessika Roswall)

6 May 2025 · Exchange with H&M on the priorities for the mandate in the area of circular Economy.

Meeting with Mario Ronconi (Head of Unit Directorate-General for International Partnerships)

27 Mar 2025 · Discussion on green transition in South Asia.

Meeting with Paz Velasco Velazquez (Acting Head of Unit Directorate-General for International Partnerships)

26 Mar 2025 · Discussion on alignment of textile industry with the objectives of the EU Textile Strategy

Meeting with Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea (Director Environment)

26 Mar 2025 · Exchange of views on textiles waste & ESPR

Meeting with Hana Genorio (Cabinet of Commissioner Jozef Síkela)

24 Mar 2025 · Textile industry and global gateway

Response to Digital Product Passport (DPP) service providers

10 Dec 2024

H&M Group would like to thank the Commission for the opportunity to answer the consultation on the DPP service providers. Since service providers will be storing the large amounts of data about our products, we consider it important to provide comments on the security-, financial-, and assurance-related requirements. Here are our detailed recommendations: Assurance: The major issue we see relates to storing the DPP data for long term in the future. The continual change in technology means that it will be difficult to ensure that data will be recoverable, for example, in 10, or 20 years. The European Commission could certify service providers based on the below prerequisites: o Results of tests on the disaster recovery processes, e.g., backups and restore functions. o An assessment of whether the disaster recovery process will work in the next 2 years. If there are issues that may prevent the process working in the next 2 years (e.g. End of Life of equipment) then a plan to overcome the issues should be provided. o Results of the test of the migration of data to another DPP service provider. The test should prove interoperability, not a full data migration- we recommend an estimate of time and resources required for a full migration. o An assessment of whether the data migration process will work in the next 2 years. If there are issues that may prevent the process working in next 2 years (e.g. Endo of Life of equipment) then a plan to overcome the issues must be provided. o Results of checks if the Uptime and Availability KPIs were met over the past 1 year. o Where a mandatory backup service is being provided, the integrity of the data and recoverability of the customer data must be tested. Data security: In case of storing companies sensitive data, we recommend requiring from service providers to sign a data processing agreement. We also recommend a security audit favouring ISO-certified service providers. Financial viability: It is essential that data stored is preserved in the case of service providers financial failure. We recommend requiring commercial agreements to avoid financial risks. We also need a detailed mode of action in case of providers financial failure. Harmonization: The final recommendation from H&M Group is to strike the right balance between harmonization and technological flexibility. CEN/CENELEC will provide a good amount of harmonisation for economic operators and service providers. We need harmonisation across EU countries as well as with similar traceability initiatives in the non-EU countries (e.g., China). We recommend creating basic harmonised requirements based on international standards, but also leaving a marge of flexibility for businesses to find their own solutions.
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Meeting with Alice Kuhnke (Member of the European Parliament)

3 Dec 2024 · Corporate responsibility, human rights, waste

Meeting with Maroš Šefčovič (Executive Vice-President) and

23 May 2024 · Green transition and 2040 climate target

Response to Waste Framework review to reduce waste and the environmental impact of waste management

22 Nov 2023

H&M Group welcomes the proposed revision of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) which aims to establish a harmonised Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textiles and footwear across EU Member States. We advocate for unified EPR rules to drive a shift towards a more circular operating model in the fashion and textile industry. While the textile sector traditionally follows a linear approach, H&M Group is committed to shifting to responsible resource use and transitioning to a circular system. There is still a long way to go for the entire industry and we recognise the need for change at a system level. If the proposal is implemented effectively, it presents a substantial opportunity to drive efficient textile waste management and promote a circular economy. H&M Group recommends to the EU policymakers to consider the below key policy recommendations for better incentivising sustainable design, establishing textile waste management infrastructures in all Member States and providing a harmonised and cost-effective implementation framework for textile producers. H&M Group is drawing its recommendations from the recently published report by Eunomia consultancy1 exploring the textile industry's opportunities and challenges of end-of-life management of garments and providing policy recommendations for EU harmonised EPR rules. Executive summary 1. Adopt a definition of obligated producer setting the obligation at the final point of sale to the consumer. 2. Support voluntary in-store collection of textiles. 3. Establish harmonised and standardised reporting requirements for companies. 4. Implement one single register for producers. 5. Guarantee cost coverage of necessary activities under the EPR scheme. 6. Ensure harmonisation and consistency of ecomodulation criteria among Member States. 7. Set up clear governance for PROs and EU consortium of PROs for continues improvement. In light of the increasing fragmentation of EPR rules across the EU, the fashion and textile industry faces challenges with complying with divergent EPR requirements. Therefore, to advance the adoption of common circular economy principles and deliver on mandatory separate collection of textiles as of January 2025 across the EU, H&M Group strongly supports harmonised EPR for textiles and footwear at the EU level.
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Response to Revision of the Union Customs Code

7 Nov 2023

H&M Group welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the European Commission's proposal for a revised Union Customs Code (UCC). This proposal strengthens the legal framework for customs and makes it suitable to address recent challenges. The European Commission's comprehensive customs reform proposal aims to make the EU's customs system more efficient, effective, sustainable, and compliant with EU product regulations and new sustainability regulations under the EU Green Deal. Specific measures include centralizing customs data management, streamlining customs procedures, and investing in new IT systems to better identify and target high-risk shipments, reduce administrative burden, automate tasks, and improve efficiency and effectiveness. H&M Group welcomes the proposals aim to streamline and modernize customs procedures, while increasing digitization of customs processes which will strengthen the customs authorities ability to protect the internal market. However, these measures should ensure no unnecessary administrative burden is placed on traders. We believe the EU's customs union plays an important role in protecting the internal market from unfair competition from outside the EU and preventing trade in illegal products. It is also an essential enabler of legal trade with third countries, which creates prosperity for the EU. H&M Group strongly advocates for the swift implementation of this essential reform. We urge the Commission to shorten the timeframe proposed, provided businesses are given an 18-month lead time to prepare. Therefore, H&M Group: Urges the Commission to shorten the proposed timeframe of the essential customs reform, while ensuring that businesses have 18 months to prepare. Supports the Commissions proposal to remove the 150 Euro de minimis threshold for customs duties, which will increase harmonization while ensuring a fair and safe trading environment. Welcomes the creation of the deemed importer regime, which will shift both financial and non-financial responsibilities from consumers to economic operators. Stresses that shortening the storage period for third-country goods in temporary warehouses may lead to increased administrative and logistical burdens. Welcomes the introduction of the Customs Data Hub to increase digitization but notes that the new system should have a realistic implementation timeline. Emphasizes that only the necessary data should be provided to the EU Customs Data Hub, and that access to the data should be restricted. Supports the EU Customs Authority and stresses that this should not be an added layer. Appreciates the implementation of the Trust and Check trader program while noting it should bring tangible benefits to companies. Is concerned about the proposed rules on customs penalties, which appear to be unproportionate.
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Meeting with Arba Kokalari (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

13 Oct 2023 · Green Claims

Response to Revision of EU rules on textile labelling

29 Sept 2023

H&M Group appreciates the opportunity to contribute to the European Commissions Call for Evidence on the revision of the Textile Labelling Regulation (TLR). Our recommendations are based on the experience gathered since the regulation was adopted in 2011. Vast developments have taken place when it comes to innovations in new fibre materials, new labelling opportunities as well as the shift towards the circular economy. Considering these developments, H&M Group fully supports the need to update the TLR with a view to modernize it, digitalise it and make it fit for the future. We are happy that the present revision is a REFIT initiative aiming to simplify the Regulation for companies and consumers. We are hoping that the changes will significantly reduce logistics challenges for companies and improve the clarity of information for consumers. Our main suggestions to consider in context of the revision: Ensure policy coherence with the other Green Deal initiatives, such as the Eco-design Regulation and the Digital Product Passport; Undertake a regulatory assessment on how to provide clarity and ease the classification process for novel fibres under Annex I. Facilitate the use of recycled fibres through considering increased tolerance levels in Article 20 ; Ensure regulatory clarity and consider traceability challenges regarding the inclusion of new requirements for leather and fur; Allow for global standards and test methods for fibre composition tests in the Regulation; Ensure further clarity on labelling requirements for products in exemptions list in Annex V; Consider digital labelling and decrease physical labels size; Ensure alignment with international trade rules and international regulatory cooperation on this topic e.g., ongoing revision of HS codes.
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H&M Group Urges Harmonized EU Green Claims Rules

20 Jul 2023
Topic — Consultation on requiring companies to substantiate green claims using environmental footprint methods.
Message — H&M requests an implementation period longer than six months to adapt internal processes and supply chains. They support recognizing the apparel and footwear industry's efforts in developing footprint measurement methodologies. The company seeks complete recognition of verified claims across all EU Member States.123
Why — A harmonized approach would reduce regulatory complexity and the associated administrative burdens for the company.4
Impact — National authorities lose the ability to challenge certificates verified in other Member States without solid grounds.5
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Meeting with Andrea Beltramello (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis)

26 Apr 2023 · Generalized System of Preference (GSP)

Meeting with Alice Kuhnke (Member of the European Parliament)

29 Mar 2023 · Sustainability within textile industry

H&M Group Backs New EU Chemical Hazard Classifications

13 Oct 2022
Topic — The European Commission is revising rules for classifying and labelling hazardous chemical substances.
Message — H&M Group supports adding new hazard classes to increase transparency in supply chains. They argue these rules are necessary to identify and replace hazardous chemicals more quickly.12
Why — Better access to information helps the company design safer and more circular products.34
Impact — Producers of substances like endocrine disruptors face new restrictions and potential market bans.5
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Meeting with Elena Montani (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius), Rozalina Petrova (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius) and

12 Oct 2022 · REACH restriction proposal on skin sensitisers in textiles and its implications

Meeting with Alice Kuhnke (Member of the European Parliament)

12 Oct 2022 · EU Textile Strategy

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

3 Oct 2022 · Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles

Meeting with Jessica Polfjärd (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and Classifieds Marketplaces Europe

28 Sept 2022 · Circular economy

Meeting with Arba Kokalari (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

28 Sept 2022 · Empowering consumers for the green transition

Response to Sustainable Products Initiative

22 Jun 2022

H&M Group welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on Ecodesign for Sustainable Products and the development of product specific requirements. In our view, this will provide the needed granularity to drive change towards more circular, durable, and recyclable products and as such is a major milestone in the EU’s transition towards a circular economy. After an initial review of the Commission’s proposal, H&M Group key reflections on the draft ESPR published in March 2022 are as follows: 1. H&M Group welcomes that ecodesign requirements will be set per product group. 2. ‘Design for purpose’ should be integrated as a fundamental and overarching principle in the EU ecodesign and shall be carefully considered when setting ecodesign requirements. 3. Substances of Concern, including substances that hamper recycling, shall be restricted under the REACH Regulation. 4. Policy coherence with relevant other EU initiatives, notably under the EU Green Deal, shall be guaranteed to ensure a well-functioning policy framework for more sustainable products. 5. The Digital Product Passport shall foster a true shift to circular economy and appropriate transition periods shall be foreseen to allow the industry to set up the needed infrastructures and collect and process the requested data. 6. It is crucial to ensure that the whole value chain for circularity is directly represented in the Ecodesign Forum, including technical experts from the industry. 7. Unnecessary administrative burden on Declarations of conformity and markings for apparel and footwear shall be minimised. 8. Ecodesign requirements should be clear, measurable and enforceable by market surveillance authorities, who shall be fully equipped to ensure a robust enforcement of ecodesign rules. 9. H&M Group welcomes the transparency obligations on the destruction of unsold goods but regrets that recycling is considered as destruction. Please find attached to this response a paper where the points above are discussed in more details. In case of any question, we remain at disposal of the European Commission. About us H&M Group is on a journey towards circular fashion. To enable our own teams to create products fit for a circular economy, H&M Group developed an innovative design tool, The Circulator, aligned with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s vision for a circular economy for fashion. The Circulator is a tool that enables our teams to create products that are fit for a circular system. It optimises the use of resources and balances existing trade-offs, by taking the purpose of products into account to increase their circular potential when selecting materials, processes and design strategies. We have set ourselves the ambition to have all our products designed for circularity using the Circulator by 2025. This means products which are made to last, come from recycled and more sustainably sourced materials and that can be recirculated (e.g., be reused and recycled) multiple times. With the Circulator, H&M Group also aims to raise awareness both within and outside our organisation about the complexity of design decisions and provide innovative solutions. As part of our work on circular products, we also have set ourselves a bold target on our material choices. By 2030, we aim for 100% of our materials to be either recycled or sourced in a more sustainable way, including delivering 30% recycled content in materials used by 2025. In addition, we prioritise prolonging the life of garments by keeping pre-loved garments in use for as long as possible through investing in scaling new circular business models. We are currently selling pre-loved products on h&m.com in Sweden and we are expanding to more markets within this year.
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Response to Waste Framework review to reduce waste and the environmental impact of waste management

22 Feb 2022

The Waste Framework Directive (WFD) revision will play a crucial role in creating a closed-loop circular economy – also for the garment and textile industry. H&M Group welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback to the WFD roadmap consultation and calls for harmonisation of definitions and requirements across the EU. In support of accelerating circular economy, H&M Group recommends the following: - Setting common and clear definitions for what ‘textiles’ are, revisit the definition of ‘waste’ and define when waste is waste in line of supporting the circular economy, and define end-of-waste criteria for the most widely used textile fibres. - Highly welcoming the intention to expand EPR requirements to textiles. However, to incentivise and support brands to put products on the EU market that are significantly more sustainable, key elements need to be harmonised at EU level: scope, eco-modulation criteria and reporting requirements. - Supporting the intention of harmonising separate collection requirements for post-consumer garments and textiles. This will be essential to close the loop in addition to providing clear customer information and education on the second life of garments. - Welcoming EU common sorting criteria and definitions for ‘re-wear’ and ‘recycling’. This will be key to support both circular business models and high-quality textile-to-textile recycling. - Waste prevention measures, such as product use extension through circular business models will be key and must be further incentivised through legislation: e.g. among others, the EU PEF method, should recognise non-physical durability by adding reuse multipliers. In addition, the Waste Framework Directive revision must ensure consistency with other legislation such as the Waste Shipment Regulation, the Sustainable Product Initiative and the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance. The WFD revision is an opportunity to greatly scale up and boost the development of automatic sorting, trimming and recycling infrastructure and capabilities that are still missing across the EU.
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Meeting with Alice Kuhnke (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Feb 2022 · EU Textile Strategy (staff level)

Response to Measures to reduce microplastic pollution

18 Jan 2022

As an industry, we have become increasingly aware of the issue of fibre fragmentation and its potential as a serious environmental pollutant. H&M Group is committed to researching and addressing the issue of microfibre emissions. H&M Group identifies five urgent needs of the industry to address along the product life cycle: 1. A global standardised test method to enable credible, comparable and transparent product testing. Both RISE and The Microfibre Consortium contributed to the harmonised test method developed by the Cross Industry Agreement , and currently going through CEN adoption process; 2. A full understanding of how various production processes contribute to the problem, and what can be done to avoid it (e.g. installing filters, changing processes); 3. Greater knowledge of how yarn and fabric constructions and compositions contribute to microfibre release so that effective solutions can be found; 4. Prevention and mitigation measures at the production stage, including final product processing, wastewater treatment and discharge to the environment; 5. Better filters for washing machines, including retrofitting existing washers, to capture microfibres before they enter the water system. We call on the EU Commission to develop a holistic approach integrating the following criteria: - Scope: cover all types of unintended fibre fragmentation and all relevant stages of the product life cycle (i.e. design, production, use, end-of-life); - Research: support and recognise ongoing industry research, while allocating funding according to the needs identified under the Microfibre 2030 Commitment and Roadmap, launched in September 2021; - Full impact assessment of potential policy measures: pre-wash at production phase will not be a solution. The global nature of value chains would make this hard to regulate as it removes the problem from the EU jurisdiction into geographies over which the EU has little to no influence. - Step-by-step and risked-based approach: firstly, adopt one common methodology to measure microfibre release at product and production levels based on current cross-industry efforts; secondly identify which shed fibres cause a higher risk for the environment; thirdly define legal thresholds; finally implement global solutions to remove or prevent the unintentional release. - Global dimension: the unintended release of microfibres should be addresses in a collaborative and harmonised manner with other jurisdictions worldwide to prevent legal fragmentation. Integrating production countries and research in the USA would contribute to create positive impacts at a larger scale. It is important to highlight that industry and institutions should always prioritise root cause change over down pipe interventions where possible.
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Meeting with Rozalina Petrova (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius)

4 Jun 2021 · Circular economy and the preparation of the EU textiles strategy

Meeting with Helena Braun (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)

4 Jun 2021 · Circular economy and the preparation of the EU textiles strategy

Meeting with Camilla Bursi (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius) and European Youth Forum and

21 May 2021 · Presentation on radical decarbonisation

Meeting with Helena Braun (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans) and European Youth Forum and

21 May 2021 · Presentation on radical decarbonisation

Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

16 Mar 2021 · Pact for Skills roundtable with the textile, clothing, leather and footwear sectors.

Meeting with Thierry Breton (Commissioner) and

16 Mar 2021 · Skills roundtable on textile

Response to EU strategy for sustainable textiles

2 Feb 2021

H&M Group’s vision is to use our size and scale to lead the change towards circular and climate positive fashion while being a fair and equal company. We want to make sustainable, good quality fashion available to as many people as possible. To achieve this, we need to change the way our products are made and used by decoupling business growth from the use of resources. H&M Group has committed to becoming climate positive throughout its entire value chain by 2040 at the latest. We also working towards our 100% circular vision and biodiversity ambition. At H&M Group, we believe that an EU textile strategy is the right approach to create a level playing field to drive systemic change and to accelerate circular economy in our industry. We support the holistic approach taken on the European textile strategy. Harmonisation and definition of one common legal and implementation scheme, will allow the sector to contribute to the Green Deal vision and transition to a circular and carbon neutrality by 2050. To put sustainability at the core of our industry is a big opportunity to accelerate the pace of change and drive for a Green Recovery. Following a constructive dialogue with civil society, the European Commission and the European Parliament over the past year, H&M Group welcomes the opportunity to provide input on the roadmap for the European strategy for sustainable textiles. Recognising the European Commission is still assessing the best way forward, we would like to provide the following recommendations to ensure a successful to a sustainable textile industry. Please find attached our detailed contribution.
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Meeting with Christiane Canenbley (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager), Michele Piergiovanni (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager) and

25 Jan 2021 · Commission’s priorities for digital and industrial policy in 2021

Response to Initiative on adequate minimum wages

24 Dec 2020

H&M Group welcomes the opportunity to comment on the proposal for a directive on adequate minimum wages. We do support the concept for a Directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union, by implementing a minimum wage methodology which is built on and does consider national context, because of the yet different circumstances in the European countries. This includes economic development and strength, productivity, purchasing power, cost-levels and average gross wages (per industry and role of an employee). Please find attached H&M Group's detailed feedback.
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Meeting with Axel Voss (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

27 Nov 2020 · Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence

Response to Sustainable corporate governance

8 Oct 2020

H&M Group welcomes the opportunity to comment on the inception impact assessment ahead of the public consultation on sustainable corporate governance in 2021. We share the European Commission’s vision to establish a mandatory due diligence framework at European level to create leverage and enable building a global level playing field for companies to operate on sustainable terms. Based on our experience, any European mandatory initiative shall: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Ensure a harmonised and common approach at European level, addressing the multiplication of distinctive national initiatives and legislations, Build on existing reporting frameworks as well as the need for coordination with the revision of the Non- Financial Reporting Directive; Be risk-based following existing international frameworks as the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights (UNGPs), and OECD due diligence guidelines, including sectorial OECD guidelines such as the ones addressing due diligence in the garment and footwear sector; Reflect the dynamism in the concept of a ‘smart mix’ of measures – as defined under the UNGPs - by states, which demands an ongoing interplay between new regulations, policy measures and support to voluntary efforts by business, with each strengthening the effect of the others in driving a measurable increase in business respect for human rights over time; Be cross-industry and relevant to both SMEs and large businesses alike. This demands a pragmatic framework and content that have some flexibility in order to be applicable to different industries and business sizes, as there is no such thing as one size fits all; Recognise the different actors’ roles along the value chain, including governments, and clearly define roles and accountabilities accordingly; Provide legal certainty for businesses through a common language and definitions; Apply a practical approach. Practical realities should be carefully considered as successful implementation relies on the understanding of how risks can be efficiently addressed in specific contexts which varies a lot from one another. This will help avoid unforeseen and potentially harmful outcomes. Good due diligence should be judged not on impacts only but on efforts. As some areas demand contributions from several sectors to sustainably change, one company cannot be held accountable for lack of or slow impact when tackling complex topics in challenging environments; Recognise industry schemes and existing tools addressing due diligence. The textile industry has developed tools to implement and track progress with the above international standards through the Social & Labor Convergence Project, as well as the Higg Brand & Retailer Module. Both industry tools went through an OECD alignment assessment against the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment & Footwear Sector. Please find more information attached.
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Response to Empowering the consumer for the green transition

1 Sept 2020

H&M Group applaud the European Commission’s ambition to enable customers across the European Union to choose more sustainable products based on trustworthy, clear, comparable and harmonized information. We share the European Commission’s objective to address a lack of common effective enforcement at European level, as well as customers’ confusion due to a multiplication of labels and claims. We believe the European Commission should also aim at rebuilding customers’ trust in sustainability claims. We believe the policy initiatives driven by the European Commission at various level could drive positive change taking into account the following principles: - Ensure one common and consolidate transparency framework and approach at the European level encompassing product, brand and value chain transparency initiatives; - Consider both social and environmental dimensions while empowering customers; - Design the legislative initiatives keeping at their core the principles of comparability and building customers’ trust in the system to be defined; - Build on fashion industry’s experience, research and testing campaign, as well as sectorial initiative (such as the Higg Index suite of tools ) to drive customers’ sustainable choices. Please find attached our full position.
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Meeting with Thierry Breton (Commissioner) and EUROPEAN APPAREL AND TEXTILE CONFEDERATION and European Cultural and Creative Industries Alliance

16 Apr 2020 · Assessment of the current situation in the textile industry following COVID-19

Meeting with Thierry Breton (Commissioner)

18 Mar 2020 · Discussions on supply of coronavirus protective equipment

Meeting with Rozalina Petrova (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius)

20 Feb 2020 · Circular Economy; Discussion on the sustainability of the textile value chain.

Response to Gender equality in the EU

13 Feb 2020

This is an extract of H&M Group's contribution - find more information in the position attached. According to the World Bank, it will take 200 years to achieve gender equality if we continue in the current pace of actions. As an organization with a majority of female employees in an industry which contributes to many job opportunities for women, H&M Group is determined to intensify its efforts to make gender equality possible. We aim at making 2020 a year that counts for progress on equal rights. We want to underline the importance of taking concrete actions to drive gender equality forward together with the European authorities to drive actual progress within Europe but also worldwide. H&M group strongly supports the European Commission’s approach on gender equality: • We believe the scope of the gender equality strategy rightly highlight the five areas on which policy makers shall focus, and for which positive impacts can take place; • We particularly welcome the holistic approach detailed in the roadmap, encompassing all ends where women face inequality: at work, in the domestic sphere, in politics, etc. We will achieve gender equality once all life circles will be addressed. To ensure tangible impacts by 2024, we would like to submit some proposals to amend the gender equality strategy: • Include women’s health in the focus areas. The strategy shall put more emphasis on this issue: health care is the basis for women’s participation and contribution in all areas of society, to hold an employement, etc; • Address future of work in the emerging issues to be covered by the strategy. Future of work covers a broader scope than artificial intelligency – e.g. the rapid advances in automation especially in supply chains, which requires skill development and re-skilling of workforces to adapt to an evolving landscape. It will impact industries in Europe and worldwide. Women are particularly vulenrable in transition, and considering future of work. It is of the utmost importance to broaden the scope of the strategy to ensure its relevance over the next 5 years. • Go beyond coordination and orientation. We call on the European Commission to implement a harmonised approach. We believe in the power of an European harmonised gender equality strategy, with common targets against which Member States should answer while implementing common actions. It is of the utmost importance to drive these issues forward, measuring progress to achieve a systematic change in the long run. We look forward to engaging further in a dialogue with the European Commission on gender equality. With presence in more than 70 countries and a history dating back more than 70 years we believe we have a lot of contributions to make, with lessons learnt, expertise and insights to inform discussions towards a framework that is pragmatic and feasible. We remain open and recognize that our position will evolve over time and through exchange with others.
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Response to Climate Law

6 Feb 2020

Never before has it been more important to act on the climate crisis. Private sector has a critical role to play in the transition. As a global company and employer, H&M Group wants to be part of the solution. We strongly welcome and support the European Commission’s initiative to embed the EU climate neutrality objective by 2050 in legislation. We fully support and welcome the strong call for measurable commitments at government and private sector levels to reduce emissions by 2030 and 2050 in a drastic manner. This is why we applied this principle to our own business. H&M Group has committed to becoming climate positive throughout its entire value chain by 2040 at the latest. That means we will reduce more greenhouse gas (GHC) emissions than our value chain emits - all the way from cotton farms to the customers’ washing machines and our collection and recycling points. In 2019, our intermediate goals for 2030 were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): • To reduce scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 40% before 2030, with 2017 as a baseline, • To reduce scope 3GHG emissions from purchased raw materials, fabric and garment production by 59% per product before 2030, with 2017 as a baseline, • To increase annual sourcing of renewable electricity from from 95% in 2017 to 100% by 2030. To reach our goal and to drive the change in the whole industry, H&M Group needs support through clear, long term and predictable legislation and efficient implementation in Member States. We urge governments and regulatory bodies to drive the change with us on the following specific points: 1. Enable renewable energy market in Europe: - We want to be able to buy renewable energy in every market; - We want the renewable energy to be reliably tracked, from source to buyer, and in doing so support consumer choice. - We support a EU binding target of at least 45 % share of renewable energy by 2030, to be accompanied by national binding targets. Member States should be obliged to demonstrate their policies and measures for the achievement of the national target to encourage the development of renewable energy technologies and provide certainty for investors. 2. Accelerate the energy transition: - To foster long term, direct and indirect, investments in renewable energy, we call for clear, long term and predictable regulations, together with long-term, clearm ambitious and science-based goals; - We want renewable energy to continue to have priority – without being subsidised, as long as the fossil fuels are not subsidised and they pay their true cost for society and environment; - We want an immediate stop of subsidies in any kind or form to the fossil fuel-based technologies and industries. 3. Support Energy Efficiency Transition in Europe - We call for at least 40 % binding Union target on energy efficiency to 2030, paving the way for further energy efficiency improvements beyond those dates; - We call for binding national energy efficiency targets and contributions for 2030 and regulations that secure a continuous improvement up to and after 2030. 4. Collaborate with industry, civil society and scientific community We ask the European authorities to recognise the existing climate industry efforts and collaboration frameworks to base the EU Climate Law on. In that sense, we call the European Commission to take into account the UNFCCC Fashion for Climate Actions and the basic framework for becoming a climate positive company, developed together with WWF and other brands.
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Response to A new Circular Economy Action Plan

20 Jan 2020

At H&M Group, we welcome the European Commission’s initiative to launch a new Circular Economy Action Plan in 2020, and its call for a deep transformation of the industry in general. We also welcome the European Parliament’s resolution on the European Green Deal 2019/2956(RSP) calling for an ‘ambitious new circular economy action plan’. We support the holistic approach taken by the Commission integrating the circular economy in the European Green Deal. We believe it will ensure greater synergies between the circular economy and climate action, as well as with biodiversity protection – two key priorities for which the circular economy can accelerate achieving the European goals. We are convinced that transparency can empower customers to make sustainable choices for the environment, people and communities. With global demand rapidly outstripping supply, the fashion industry cannot continue to operate as it has in the past. At H&M Group, we believe that an industry-wide shift from a linear to a circular business model is the only solution. Hence, we support the focus of the new Circular Economy Action Plan on the textile industry with the hope this will accelerate its shift in a scalable and harmonized approach at EU level, while allowing a smart mix of measures. We would like to seize this opportunity of dialogue with the Commission to insist on the need to address some of the barriers to circular economy. To establish successful concrete measures in the textile industry, we urge the Commission to continue their open dialogue in the coming months through public consultations and a thorough impact assessment. Please find attached further inputs.
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Response to EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy

20 Jan 2020

H&M Group welcomes the European Commission’s ambition to preserve and restore our eco-systems and lead global negotiations on a post-2020 global biodiversity framework. We look forward to contributing to the development of the European Union’s position ahead of COP15 and to the 2021 European concrete measures. The textile industry’s impacts on biodiversity mainly comes from raw material production as well as from manufacturing processes. In addition to sourcing all our raw material sustainably by 2030 and becoming climate positive by 2040, we also want to contribute to the global efforts to preserve and restore our eco-systems. To contribute to an industry wide change towards global solutions, we recognise multi-stakeholder collaboration is a prerequisite of success. We aim at collaborating with civil society, governments, industries and international organisations. In this matter, H&M group has been collaborating with WWF since 2011 and the Fashion Pact in 2019. We have recently joined the International Platform for Insetting (IPI) . We also contribute to Business 4 Nature (B4N) advocacy efforts. H&M group supports the high-level policy recommendations to be presented by Bussiness 4 Nature at Davos on January 21st, 2020. Business for Nature is calling for a global framework that will reverse nature loss through policies that protect and restore nature and incentivize its sustainable use. Please refer to the attached position paper for more details on the high-level policy recommendations.
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Meeting with Helena Braun (Cabinet of First Vice-President Frans Timmermans)

7 Nov 2019 · discussion on circular economy and textiles

Meeting with Grzegorz Radziejewski (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen), Grzegorz Radziejewski (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen) and

7 Feb 2017 · green growth and energy union