The European Commission recently proposed a strategy for securing Europe’s place in global markets by using diplomacy to protect the European Union’s (EU) core interests, promoting standards for a fair transition by assisting its partners to develop theirs and addressing new security threats and challenges that endanger both European interests and those of its partners.

The new EU global climate and energy vision adds an external dimension to the Clean Industrial Deal and sets a new strategy to strengthen existing partnerships and forging new, mutually beneficial ones, an official release said.

A new strategy for securing Europe’s place in global markets was recently proposed by using diplomacy to protect core EU interests, promoting standards for a fair transition and addressing new security threats and challenges.
The vision proposes to ramp up the EU’s clean technology manufacturing capacity to reach 15 per cent of the global technology market, while improving its industrial competitiveness.

Launched in February 2025, the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal is a strategy to boost European industrial competitiveness and decarbonisation by lowering energy costs, accelerating clean technology, supporting circularity and developing skills.

As a market still dependent on fossil energy imports, renewables will remain at the heart of the EU’s clean transition. Almost half of EU electricity was generated by renewables in 2024. This significantly increases the EU’s energy independence and security. The EU has also seen an increase of 111% in the share of clean energy investments since 2015.

The vision proposes to ramp up the EU’s clean technology manufacturing capacity to reach 15 per cent of the global technology market, while improving its industrial competitiveness, in line with the Clean Industrial Deal.

The vision also reaffirms the EU’s commitment to a rules-based international order.

The EU will continue driving robust international climate policies. This includes stronger action to address the nexus between climate change, environmental degradation, and security and resilience by engaging at multilateral (UN and NATO) and bilateral levels.

It will implement the actions set out in the 2023 Joint Communication on the Climate-Security Nexus and continue combatting information manipulation and disinformation on climate change, the release noted.

The new vision presents a series of strategic actions for global energy and climate engagement to drive the clean transition, competitiveness and clean technologies and investments.

These include injecting political momentum by encouraging multilateral and bilateral fora and initiatives to deliver on the Paris Agreement and Global Stocktake commitments; boosting EU clean tech businesses internationally and enabling climate resilient investments by organising business fora, setting up an EU external Clean Transition Business Council, scaling up investments and establishing business models for climate adaptation; and supporting and connecting European businesses with global investments by making full use of the Global Gateway Investment Hub to assist joint investments projects outside the EU.

These also include expanding networks of mutually beneficial partnerships for global and resilient clean value chains and reforming global financial institutions for the clean and resilient transition and stepping up EU’s climate security work.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

As the US government began imposing new port fees on Chinese-owned and operated carriers, as well as on any ocean carriers with Chinese-built vessels calling at US ports, the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) said these fees “fail to achieve their stated objectives”.

The stated objective of this new port-fee-regime is to address unfair practices that led to China’s dominance in global shipbuilding and strengthen the US shipbuilding industry. China produced 53 per cent of the world’s ships in 2024.

As the US unveiled a new port fee regime targeting China, AAFA said these fees “fail to achieve their stated objectives”.
These fees are set to rise each April, raising the risk that the costs will turn too high for some carriers and begin to be passed along to shippers.
Carriers have deployed non-Chinese-built ships on US routes, while continuing to expand orders at Chinese shipyards, it noted.

These fees are set to increase each April, raising the risk that the costs will become too high for some carriers to absorb and begin to be passed along to shippers, AAFA noted.

“Rather than reducing reliance on Chinese shipbuilding, carriers have simply reshuffled their fleets by deploying non-Chinese-built ships on US routes, while continuing to expand orders at Chinese shipyards. China’s global market share in shipbuilding continues to rise, climbing above 65 per cent in June and reaching 84 per cent in August,” said AAFA executive vice president Nate Herman said in a release.

“At the same time, Chinese carriers are shifting calls from US ports to Canada and Mexico to maintain North American service while avoiding the fees. This diverts business away from US ports and reduces work opportunities for American longshoremen,” he added.

“We urge the Trump administration to reconsider this policy. Instead of imposing punitive port fees that create inefficiencies and divert business away from US ports, the focus should be on creating strong domestic incentives and providing sustained support to revitalise American shipbuilding,” said AAFA trade and transportation specialist Audrey Clark.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

At the end of last August, the Danish jewellery giant Pandora appointed Aurélie Alexandre as its new director for Spain and Portugal. From the company’s Madrid headquarters, she succeeded Alizée Huitorel, who at the beginning of the year became the company’s general manager for Western Europe. A couple of months after taking the helm of the Iberian division, FashionNetwork.com speaks with the executive about her challenges at Pandora, future plans and the role of the Spanish and Portuguese markets within the company.

FashionNetwork.com: How are your first months in the role going?

Aurélie Alexandre: I’m getting to know the region, the market, the teams and the stores, and travelling a lot. I already knew these two countries because I worked as marketing director for Western Europe, including France, but right now I’m focused on Portugal and Spain.

FNW: What are your main challenges in this new role?

A. A.: On the one hand, we face the same macroeconomic challenges as the rest of the sector. For example, in jewellery, the price of silver is something that affects us. Beyond that, in the Portuguese and Spanish markets, I’d say the main challenge is to strengthen our position as a brand. Pandora has a very strong brand position in Spain and Portugal and is very well known, but our task is to remain a relevant and inspiring brand in these markets. We need to strengthen the brand beyond ‘charms’ and our bracelets, which distinguished Pandora and put it on the map. Now, without losing our essence, we have to go further.

FNW: What is your strategy for achieving that goal?

A. A.: It rests on several pillars. We will back different product categories within the jewellery segment; and, in terms of customer connection, we’ll aim to be less product-centric, putting greater emphasis on emotions, on our connection with customers, on building bonds. At the end of October, we will unveil a campaign along these lines, focusing on that emotional connection with the brand.

FNW: A global campaign or a local one for the Iberian market?

A. A.: It’s a global campaign that will launch in these two markets.

FNW: What are the other pillars of the strategy?

A. A.: Retail is a key piece. We have a very solid, established network in both Spain and Portugal, so we’re no longer in a phase of growing the network for its own sake. It’s about continuing to open where it makes sense. In fact, rather than increasing the number of stores [Pandora has over 90 in Spain and around 40 in Portugal], our strategy is focused on relocations. We have stores in very good locations, but many of them are small. We obviously can’t push out the walls to make them bigger, so our challenge is to find new sites. This is something to develop in the medium term, as finding the right spaces doesn’t happen quickly.

In parallel, we’re rolling out our new Evoke store concept, launched a year and a half ago. Some stores already have it in place, but one of our objectives is to invest in expanding it and bringing it to more locations.

FNW: And beyond physical stores?

A. A.: Another pillar of our strategy is the digital environment. We recently launched a new e-commerce site. And we continue to champion omnichannel: the click-and-collect format works very well, and we’re also enabling customers to buy online from our physical stores those products they want that aren’t available in-store at that moment. And we have a partnership with El Corte Inglés to operate on its marketplace.

FNW: What is your relationship with El Corte Inglés?

A. A.: It’s a key partner. In addition to the digital channel, we are present in 70 shop-in-shops in its department stores in Spain and two in Portugal, and it is an essential part of our distribution. In the multi-brand channel we operate in 220 locations in Spain and 130 in Portugal.

FNW: What do the Spanish and Portuguese markets represent for Pandora?

A. A.: They are two of the fastest-growing markets, if not the fastest. Pandora has a unique brand positioning in these two countries, and some of the initiatives developed here are a benchmark for other markets. One example is the influencer marketing strategy followed in Spain and Portugal: a community has been created that is highly connected with Gen Z, where most of the content produced is organic, not paid. The influencers are part of the Pandora family; that’s how they feel and that’s how it comes across to customers. Moreover, the paid media model used in the Iberian market is also successful and a template to follow.

FNW: In recent times, you’ve reached a new generation of consumers through social profiles. But what about the more traditional customer, the one who first connected with the brand through its ‘charms’?

A. A.: Of course, we remain connected with our long-standing customers, paying attention to them and engaging with them. ‘Charms’ are our core and they’re not going anywhere; in fact, we constantly launch new collections, such as ‘Talisman’, which was released recently.