Companies

CEC welcomes technology centres as new associate members

Feb 10, 2026 CEC

The European Footwear Confederation (CEC) has introduced a new membership category to engage with stakeholders beyond national footwear associations. This new category will encompass technology centres

Under the new CEC statutes, the following are now eligible to join as Associate Members: manufacturers and brands, distributor associations, footwear technology centres, and expert groups. This change aims to increase participation in the footwear community by welcoming stakeholders beyond national footwear associations in order to strengthen collaboration, maximise expertise and foster new initiatives.

In particular, CEC has announced that the following European footwear technology centres will now become associate members: NOVEX and INESCOP (Spain); CTCP (Portugal); PFI (Germany); Politecnico Calzaturiero (Italy); and SATRA (the UK and Ireland).

The organisation has also established a Sustainability Working Group to address important EU social and environmental policy developments that are relevant to the European footwear industry. The initiative aims to support companies in anticipating and adapting to new regulatory requirements, as well as identifying emerging opportunities.

The agenda of this group includes strategic topics such as ecodesign requirements for footwear, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), the revision of the EU Ecolabel and the Digital Product Passport. In line with this, the group will support businesses in meeting their due diligence obligations under EU legislation, including the EU Deforestation Regulation, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Image Credits: cec-footwearindustry.eu

CEC European Union CTCP Footwear Organisations