EU Member States agree negotiating mandate for revised deforestation regulation
Council will push for delays and a further review in six months’ time despite some companies warning against last-minute confusion
The Council of the European Union agreed its negotiating position for revising the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) on Wednesday.
Member States want the law, which seeks to ensure products coming in and out of Europe don’t contribute to deforestation, to be delayed by 12 months, to give companies more time to prepare.
If approved, it would be the second time the law has been delayed by a year, giving large companies until the end of 2026 to comply and smaller ones until mid-2027.
The European Commission had previously called for a second one-year delay, claiming its IT system wasn’t yet capable of handling a sudden influx of EUDR information from firms.
However, in its final proposal last month, it instead suggested the deadline for large companies should remain December 2025, but with a six-month period during which it wouldn’t enforce the rules.
For smaller companies, the Commission wants the deadline to be the end of 2026.
Council’s new position would introduce a review clause for April – before it wants EUDR to enter into force for anyone – that would mandate the Commission to “evaluate the administrative burden and impact of the Regulation, in particular for micro and small operators”.
This week, Nestlé, Mars Wrigley and Ferrero were among a group of companies and civil society bodies urging EU lawmakers not to introduce delays and changes to the rules so close to the December 30th implementation date.
Such changes would cause confusion for firms, they said in a letter, and penalise those who had taken the law seriously and invested in internal systems and processes to help them comply in time.
Members of European Parliament are expected to vote on their position on the law next week, at which point trialogues between the three co-legislators can commence.