European Parliament proposal puts EU Deforestation Regulation at risk

The European Parliament proposed postponing and amending one of the EU's major green initiatives, namely the EU's new “deforestation regulation” (EUDR), on Thursday, November 14.

The EUDR will impose requirements on commercial companies so that they do not contribute to deforestation. The regulation requires that goods sold in the EU cannot originate from areas that have been deforested after December 31, 2020.

However, the European Parliament decided by a narrow majority to propose postponing the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation by one year and to introduce a new “zero-risk category”, which will effectively create a huge loophole that exempts a number of countries from large parts of the deforestation regulation's requirements.

This would mean the continued sale of large quantities of deforestation products in the EU and puts the entire EUDR at risk.

EU Council must reject proposal

Rainforest Foundation Norway reacts strongly to the outcome of the vote and calls on the European Commission and EU governments to reject the proposal from the Parliament.

When the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented the proposal for a one-year postponement in October this year, she was very clear that she did not want any changes to the contents and said that if this happened, she would withdraw the postponement proposal.

Now that this has happened, Rainforest Foundation Norway assumes that von der Leyen will keep her word. In that case, the deforestation regulation will be implemented on 30.12.24 as originally planned.

"We ask Ursula von der Leyen to keep her word and withdraw the entire proposal for postponement. If this does not happen, we must rely on the EU member states, through the European Council, to reject the EU parliament's proposal,” says Anders Haug Larsen, Director of International Advocacy at Rainforest Foundation Norway.

Zero risk category seems specially written for the forest industry

The proposal for a zero-risk category was put forward by the Conservative and Christian Democrat groups in the European Parliament. The zero-risk category means that countries where the risk of deforestation is considered to be non-existent should be exempted from deforestation legislation. It seems tailor-made for the European forestry industry, as most EU countries meet the requirements.

However, the US, China, the UK, Norway and many other countries outside the EU also meet the requirements, and the loophole created is therefore enormous.

A number of countries will be exempt even if deforestation, forest degradation and illegal logging take place there, because it is the total net deforestation that forms the basis for the zero-risk category. It will also be possible for countries with a high level of deforestation to export to the EU via zero-risk countries to avoid the EUDR regulations.

The proposal to include a zero-risk category could also lead to the EU Deforestation Regulation contravening the non-discrimination provision in the WTO. This will lead to strong reactions among producer countries that do not want to be included in the zero-risk category, including Brazil and Indonesia.

Contributes to uncertainty for businesses

Another proposal that was adopted also allows for a postponement of more than one year if the European Commission fails to complete the risk categorization of countries by 30 June 2025.

“The outcome of Thursday's vote contributes to uncertainty and unpredictability for business actors covered by the EUDR. This penalizes those who seriously prepare to meet their obligations and rewards illegal actors and others who have not prepared,” says Anders Haug Larsen.

A big political threat to forests

This is the first time the Conservatives have formed a majority together with the far-right groups in the parliament to defeat important environmental regulations.

“We fear that this will become the new majority constellation in the EU, and in that case it is the beginning of the end for the EU's drive to limit deforestation,” Haug Larsen concludes.