EU landmark deforestation law is off the hook

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which entered into force in June 2023, has undergone sustained political attacks since the start of 2024, leading the European Commission to propose delaying its application by 12 months.

This delay was approved by the European Council but there was further confusion when the European Parliament narrowly voted to also introduce new amendments that would hollow out the law and render it ineffective. 

The Parliament vote led to Tripartite negotiations between EU institutions, known as trilogues, on the final text which have just concluded. They approved the 12-months delay without further amendments to the substance of the law.

“All who care about protecting the world’s forests can breathe a little easier tonight. Member States have stood firm, rejecting the harmful amendments which would have gutted the law and left it impotent.

In the face of unremitting pressure from the European People’s Party to dismantle the law, EU Member States were united in upholding its integrity,” said Nicole Polsterer, Fern’s sustainable consumption and production campaigner. 

The delay is accompanied by a political declaration, still unpublished, stating that the Commission will update the EUDR’s guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions in order to further clarify and explore additional simplifications, in full compliance with the objectives of the Regulation, which is to “minimise the EU’s contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide”.

“Civil Society will carefully watch the Commission’s updates of guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions so as to ensure there is no gap between what is stated there, and the wording of the law,” continued Polsterer.

The Commission also commits to ensure that both the Information and the benchmarking systems will be made available no later than six months before the EUDR enters into application. The European Parliament’s demand to postpone EUDR application, should the systems not be published, has been dropped.

Finally, the Commission has pledged that following an impact assessment, additional simplification measures might be considered in the context of the general review of the EUDR, which is set to happen in 2028. The Commission will particularly look at the feasibility of reducing requirements from countries that have achieved positive results regarding the aim of the Regulation stated above. The European Parliament had initially requested introducing a new “no-risk” category, which would have hollowed out the Regulation and which was found to be incompatible with World Trade Organisation rules. 

EU Member States have welcomed this outcome and are set to formally approve it in a meeting today, enabling the European Parliament to vote on it the week of December 16. Given all major groups of the Parliament have endorsed the trilogue outcome, this should be a formality.

“The delay in implementing the EUDR must now be used to ensure the legislation‘s success. For the EU, this means building stronger partnerships with producer countries to ease their concerns and working together to tackle deforestation.

Most importantly, this law must have a strong social commitment. It’s vital that the specific needs of small-scale farmers are met, so that companies don’t squeeze them out of their supply chains because of the law’s requirements,” ended Polsterer. 

Kategorien: Press Releases, EU Regulation on deforestation-free products