The European Commission has announced that the European Parliament and the Council have reached a ‘provisional political agreement’ on the targeted amendments to the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
The deal will now go on to be formally approved by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 15 December.
As the Commission noted in a statement, the agreement ‘ensures clarity and predictability’ on the rollout of the EUDR, and the requirements for different businesses.
Reduced data load
It also added that the agreed amendments will ‘reduce the data load’ on the IT system, to ensure that it is capable of handling the expected due diligence statements and simplified declarations submitted by all operators. IT capacity was previously cited by EU lawmakers as a potential stumbling block to the implementation of the EUDR.
“The agreement reached by the European Parliament and Council provides the necessary certainty and predictability to businesses, so that they can prepare for the application of the EUDR,” commented Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy.
“I am glad that we managed to swiftly address the capacity issues of the IT system and we will now work on the implementation of the law in the most efficient way possible, so that we can reduce global deforestation.”
Updated requirements
Under the amendments, large firms placing products including cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, rubber, livestock and timber on the EU market will now have until 30 December 2026 to comply with due diligence obligations that confirm said products are not linked to deforestation.
Micro and small operators will have until 30 June 2027 to comply, except those that already fall under the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which will follow the earlier date of 30 December 2026.
The amendments also ‘streamline’ obligations for downstream operators and traders, while micro and small primary operators from low-risk countries are now required to submit a one-off simplified declaration instead of full due diligence statements.
Announcing the agreed amendments, the Commission cited UN Food and Agriculture Organization data that indicates the loss of 420 million hectares of forest between 1990 and 2020 – an area larger than the European Union.
‘Profound failure of leadership’
Commenting on the agreement between the European Parliament and the Council, Isabel Fernandez, senior advisor for Mighty Earth, described it as a “massive blow and an alarming betrayal of the EU’s own promise to stop deforestation. This is a profound failure of leadership.”
“Instead of standing firm for environmental integrity and true climate leadership and rejecting the proposal by the European Commission, decision makers have sided with political saboteurs and corporate lobbyists over most Europeans who want to protect nature. They have chosen to weaken a cornerstone regulation at the very moment when courage, consistency, and bold action should be prioritised to address the climate and nature crisis.” Read more here.
