A positive outcome for the EUDR saga
12 December 2024
We can all stop holding our breaths: tripartite negotiations among the EU Commission, Parliament and Council concluded, 3 December 2024, with an agreement both to delay application of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and not to re-open the substance of its obligations. After a bumpy, volatile path, energies can now be focused on the strong EUDR implementation needed to help halt forest destruction.
The EUDR saga has been dizzying. Just ahead of the Parliament vote on 14 November, Forest Watch (FW 300) stated that the Commission’s proposal for a year-long delay for full EUDR application was likely to be adopted. In addition, the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) was pressuring to re-open and dilute EUDR obligations, tabling amendments that would largely empty the law of its meaning. This was despite considerable public support for the EUDR (in seven Member States polled, 84% favoured swift implementation, 73% considered it a key EU priority), and more than 1.1 million signatures on petitions to uphold the law. Greens, Social Democrats and Liberals agreed reluctantly to the delay, in exchange for a commitment not to re-open the content. The amendments were of dubious World Trade Organisation compatibility (i.e., creating a new ‘no-risk’ country designation would likely be discriminatory, violate national treatment provisions, and constitute a disguised trade restriction on international trade); they were still pushed through, thanks to the EPP and far-right groups.
Fortunately, the Council saw the proposed amendments as a severe threat to the integrity of the law and to the fight against deforestation and rejected them on 20 November by an overwhelming majority. They accepted the Commission’s proposal to delay application, choosing to protect legal certainty and predictability by refusing to back down on the content.
The Trilogue then concluded positively in early December, with a delay intended to bolster implementation without shifting the EUDR’s goalposts.
So that is settled.
The Council and Parliament are expected to accept the Trilogue conclusions, with a Parliament voted expected on 17 December. The EUDR will then become law once published in the Official Journal (by year’s end).
For its part, the Commission has committed to assist traders and operators with due diligence statements by swiftly updating its Guidance and FAQs. They have further pledged to ensure that the Information System to create due diligence statements and the proposal for the country-risk classification (‘benchmarking’) are available no later than six months before the Regulation enters into application. Finally, the Commission will analyse whether, when sourcing from countries that have achieved positive results regarding EUDR objectives, simplifying and reducing the administrative burden is necessary and/or feasible.
For the past two years, responsible governments and businesses have engaged considerable energy and resources into EUDR implementation, setting up complex traceability systems, hiring staff, adapting production processes, and taking steps to minimise risks to smallholders. The current outcome respects these efforts, which can now continue to move forward as part of the work of trying to avert further global forest destruction.
Categories: News, Forest Watch, EU Regulation on deforestation-free products
