In 2008, the European textile and clothing industry (according to data provided by Euratex, the European Apparel and Textile Confederation) was comprised of 160.000 companies that employed a total of 2.350 million employees.
The textile and clothing supply chain in Europe is characterised by a large presence of small and medium size enterprises, with an average number of 16.6 employees per company in the EU of 27. Long term trends of globalization and trade liberalization have challenged the competitiveness of the textile industry in Europe.

In order to facilitate business with the government and among the industry, the Danish Government deployed a national e-invoicing service, called ‘NemHandel’. It allows businesses to send standardised UBL e-invoices through the internet. Based on open and common standards, NemHandel also allows businesses to send e-invoices which were generated in their internal ERP or invoicing systems.

For several years the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and
Electronic Business (CEFACT) has been developing a set of electronic
standards for international trade data. Progress has been slower than
had been hoped for, and CEFACT is currently reassessing stakeholder
needs and priorities to ensure that its work is addressing the most
urgent requirements. The UN/CEFACT project teams responsible are
consulting those already involved in CEFACT’s work as well as a
selection of stakeholders that are not, in order to submit a report to
CEFACT by the end of February 2010.