EU Council Delays Implementation of Deforestation Regulation
The European Council has reached a consensus to postpone the enforcement of the EU Deforestation Regulation, with a significant majority of national diplomats expressing their approval during a confidential meeting held on Wednesday. Initially set to come into effect by the end of this year, the legislation mandates that suppliers of key commodities such as cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, wood, rubber, and beef must demonstrate that their products are not associated with deforestation to gain access to the EU market. This month, the European Commission proposed a one-year delay in response to widespread international criticism, particularly from major trading partners, including the United States and Brazil.
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The Council’s statement indicated that this delay would provide “legal certainty, predictability, and sufficient time for a smooth and effective implementation of the rules, including the complete establishment of due diligence systems that cover all relevant commodities and products.”
However, conservation organizations have voiced strong objections to this decision. Anke Schulmeister-Oldenhove, a representative from the WWF European Policy Office, criticized the governments for placing companies that have made efforts to comply with the law at a disadvantage. She emphasized that the voices of citizens who participated in one of the most subscribed EU public consultations were being ignored.
“By making this choice, Member States are effectively endorsing an additional 12 months of forest destruction driven by European consumption,” Schulmeister-Oldenhove stated. “They not only overlook the democratic decisions already made and the 1.2 million Europeans who have urged an end to deforestation, but they also betray the companies that have invested significantly to meet compliance with the regulations, as well as the principle of competitive fairness that this Commission professes to support.”
Over 200 environmental and human rights organizations sent a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday, October 15, warning that delaying the law would severely undermine the EU’s credibility as a global leader in combating climate change, biodiversity loss, and human rights violations, especially as critical UN climate and biodiversity summits approach.
The agreement reached among EU permanent representatives means that formal endorsement by government ministers is now merely a procedural formality. Leaders of the primary political factions in the European Parliament, where majority backing from Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) is also necessary, consented last week to expedite the amendment without further discussion at the committee level—a strategy that some hope will minimize the chances for further dilution of the law.
