Pressure on several fronts bore fruit and the European Commission succumbed. Brussels is proposing to delay by one year the entry into force of the regulation against deforestation, scheduled for January 2025. The regulation aims to ensure that imports made by the EU do not contribute to the degradation of forests, which has already caused the loss of some 420 million hectares of forest (an area larger than the European Union) between 1990 and 2020.
The regulation requires companies to carry out strict due diligence if they trade or export from the EU market products such as palm oil, livestock, soy, coffee, cocoa, timber and rubber, as well as their derivatives. Imports of these products will have to undergo verification procedures to verify that their production does not come from deforested areas.
“Taking into account the information received from international partners on the state of their preparations, the Commission also proposes to give interested parties more time to prepare,” indicates the community government in a press release. The decision will have to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The European Commission’s proposal is that the regulation begins to apply on December 30, 2025 for large companies and June 30, 2026 for micro and small companies.
“Given that all implementation instruments are technically ready, the additional twelve months can serve as a phased implementation period to ensure adequate and effective implementation,” the statement said: “With this step, the Commission aims to provide certainty on the path forward. and ensure the success of the EUDR [el reglamento contra la deforestación, según sus siglas en inglés]which is essential to address the EU’s contribution to the urgent global problem of deforestation. “The proposed extension in no way calls into question the objectives or content of the law, as agreed by the EU co-legislators.”
The European Commission bases its decision on “concerns” expressed by some global partners regarding the state of preparedness for new regulations. The complaint, which came from countries ranging from Australia to Brazil, was reiterated to Ursula von der Leyen at the UN general assembly in New York last week. “The state of preparedness of stakeholders in Europe is also uneven,” recognizes the European Commission.
Countries like Germany, political organizations like the European People’s Party, which is the main parliamentary force, and the Von der Leyen family, as well as affected sectors, like supermarket employers, have increased pressure in recent weeks against the regulation, under the pretext that there was not enough time to adapt to the new demands. On the other side of the scale were progressive forces and environmental organizations.
“We support the objectives of the legislation, but the conditions for compliance are not yet ready,” explained the general director of EuroCommerce (supermarket and distribution employers), Christel Delberghe, last week. Brussels published this Wednesday “additional guidance documents and a stronger international cooperation framework to help global stakeholders, Member States and third countries in their preparations for the implementation of the EU Regulation on deforestation”.
