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Deal on delaying EU’s deforestation rules

EU governments and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on a timetable for the introduction of new EU rules on deforestation-free products.

The proposed rules are aimed at stopping imports of goods that are linked to deforestation.

The EU regulation on the issue had been due to apply across the EU from 30 December 2024, and from 30 June 2025 for micro and small entities.

Vote complicated process

The European Commission, however, proposed in September last year that the application of the rules should be delayed by a year.

The EU Council backed this move. While MEPs also approved the postponement, a recent vote had complicated the process by adding new amendments.

Yesterday (3 December), however, negotiators from the EU Council and European Parliament said that they had agreed a provisional deal on the commission’s proposed postponement.

Classification system

The European Parliament negotiators said that they had received commitments from the commission to make the classification system for the rules available not later than six months before they begin to apply to firms.

MEPs had wanted to introduce a new category of ‘no risk’ countries to the regulation's country benchmarking system.

They added that the commission had also agreed to look at further measures to cut the administrative burden on companies before a review of the regulation in 2028.

“We would have preferred to see several issues directly enshrined in the law, but the Council refused. It is now up to the commission to deliver on its commitments,” said Christine Schneider, the parliament’s rapporteur on the issue.