Klaus Huneke has taken over as the President of the European Apparel and Textile Federation (EURATEX) with effect from January 2017 for a two-year term.
Huneke, succeeding Sege Piolat who headed EURATEX during the last two years, pointed out: “Serge Piolat achieved impressive results in strengthening the voice of the European textile and clothing industry. To further enhance our industry my intention is to focus on few strategic priorities such as better communication towards policymakers and stakeholders on the excellence of our innovation and sustainability, enhancing EU competitiveness and greater participation of companies in innovation.â€Â
Huneke has an extensive international experience in the textile industry. He made a remarkable career at Heimbach, a large technical textiles producer in Germany. Having started his path as an engineer in the petrochemical industry, in 90s he joined Heimbach where he was a CEO until his retirement. Huneke has been engaged in numerous actions aimed to advance German industry, especially been the Vice-president of the German textile employer’s association since April 2000. Klaus Huneke has also been actively involved in representation of textile and clothing industry at the European level, acting as a board member since 2013 and Vice-President Treasurer of EURATEX since 2015.
He is intimately convinced that “the textile and clothing industry need more and better Europe to maintain its competitiveness ahead of the world competitors. It will be our task to make clear to EU policymakers the value of maintaining strong, innovative and competitive textile and clothing value chains in Europe. I hope under my Presidency to convince to have greater coherence among policies and to favour targeted and efficient support more in line with textile and clothing companies’ needs and capabilities.â€Â