Weekly

European Parliament votes to delay EUDR, the legislative process continues

Igor Dugandzic, 15 November 2024

In a plenary session on 14 November, the European Parliament has voted to adopt certain amendments to the EU deforestation regulation (EUDR) and delay the application date of the law by one year to the end of 2025.

The vote was cast in response to criticism and concerns raised by EU member states, non EU-countries, as well as industry stakeholders. This additional time would help operators around the world to implement the rules smoothly from the start without undermining the objectives of the law, the EU Parliament explained. The legislative process is now proceeding to trilogue with a possible final decision expected by the end of the year.

The Plenary has voted on the issue with 371 votes in favour and 240 against. During the vote, the original amending regulation proposed by the European Commission plus some amendments to the law proposed by the European Peoples’ Party (EPP) were adopted.

The amendments adopted will require further deliberations between Parliament, the European Commission and the EU Council in the so called trilogue process during which the Commission, Council and European Parliament will work on a compromise between the original proposal approved by the Commission and the Council and the amended version adopted by the European Parliament.

Although time is running out, both the Council and the Commission have stated that is possible to organise and negotiate the final vote at short notice. Two more plenary sessions will be held before 30 December 2024, which is the originally scheduled date of application for EUDR. An informal trilogue result could be adopted at these two sessions. The last meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States will take place on 20 December, so that the Council could also give its approval in time, it is said.

If EU member states agree with the extension agreed upon in the European Parliament, large operators and traders will have to comply with the EUDR regulation only from the end of next year, whereas small and micro-enterprises would have time until the middle of 2026.

However, it remains to be seen whether the Commission will maintain its proposal to postpone the start of application in view of the additional substantive amendments introduced. If this is not the case, or if the trilogue procedure is not completed by 30 December, the EUDR would have to be applied from the end of this year and in the version adopted at the end of June 2023.

EUDR was designed to fight climate change and biodiversity loss by preventing producers and importers from marketing and selling products such as pulp, paper, wood, palm oil, rubber, coffee, soy, chocolate or leather in the EU if they were linked to or contributing to destruction and degradation of forests. According to the EU, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 420 million hectares of forest were lost to deforestation between 1990 and 2020 with EU consumption representing 10 per cent of global deforestation. The regulation on deforestation-free supply chains had entered into force on 29 June 2023 and was originally to be applied as of 30 December 2024.

New risk category to be introduced, IT systems must be ready on time

Besides the postponement of the actual date of application by one year, the adoption of the original amending regulation proposed by the Commission means, for example that the list of countries that are concluded as being “low”, “standard” or “high risk” shall be published no later than 30 June 2025.

In addition, upon proposal of the EPP, country benchmarking is to be based on a four- instead on a three-tier classification system, adding a new “no risk” category. This was reserved to countries or sub-national regions who are strictly and transparently implementing national anti-deforestation and forest conservation regulations, that can prove that the forest area development has remained stable or increased compared to 1990, and that have signed the Paris Agreement and international conventions on human rights and deforestation prevention.

The introduction of the new category would lead to significant facilitation for companies from countries with little or no deforestation risk. Operators falling under the “no risk” category would, as before, have to comply with the respective national legislation while products from these areas would then be largely exempt from the rules of the regulation.

Furthermore, the Commission is recommended to ensure the Information System and Country Benchmarks are available and fully functioning at least six months before the new date of application. In the event of further delays, the deadline should be postponed accordingly.

There are different reactions to the latest decision of the Plenary by the industry representatives and NGOs. The industry associations speak in favour of the new amendments, and the introduction of the “no risk” category in particular as it would enable a differentiated risk assessment with a corresponding adjustment of reporting

WWF, Greenpeace and Robin Wood expressed their disappointment and see the introduction of the new category as a significant watering down of the original regulation.

Source: Euwid