Deforestation law: agreement with Council gives companies extra year to comply

On Tuesday evening, negotiators from the Parliament and Council reached a provisional political agreement to postpone the application of the new rules. Large operators and traders will now have to respect the obligations stemming from this regulation as of 30 December 2025, and micro- and small enterprises from 30 June 2026. This additional time is intended to help companies around the world implement the rules smoothly from the start, without undermining the objectives of the law.

The Commission proposed postponing the application date of the deforestation regulation by one year in response to concerns raised by EU member states, non-EU countries, traders and operators that they would not be able to fully comply with the rules if applied as of the end of 2024.

Following amendments from Parliament to create a new category of countries posing “no risk” on deforestation, the Commission promised a future assessment of simplified requirements for countries that have demonstrated effective and sustainable forest management practices.

An “emergency break” was also included so that the Regulation could be further postponed if the online platform for companies is not fully operational by 30 December 2025 or if the risk classifications of countries is not published at least six months before.

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After the deal, Parliament’s rapporteur Christine Schneider (EPP, DE) said: “We promised and delivered: The one year postponement is agreed, so that businesses, foresters, farmers and authorities will have an additional year to prepare. In addition, we ensured that the Commission will complete the online platform and the risk categorisation in due time giving more predictability for all in the supply chain. Last but not least, an impact assessment and further simplification is to follow in the review stage for the low risk countries or regions giving countries an incentive to improve their forest conservation practices.

We would have preferred to see these improvements directly enshrined in the law, but Council refused disappointingly. It is now up to the Commission to deliver on its commitments. As Parliament, we will closely monitor this process, as reducing bureaucracy is urgently needed.”

Next steps

The vote on the informal agreement between the colegislators will be added to the agenda of Parliament’s next plenary session (16-19 December). In order for the postponement to enter into force, the agreed text has to be endorsed by both Parliament and Council and published in the EU Official Journal before the end of the year.

Background

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 420 million hectares of forest — an area larger than the EU — were lost to deforestation between 1990 and 2020. EU consumption represents around 10% of global deforestation. Palm oil and soya account for more than two-thirds of this.

The deforestation regulation, adopted by Parliament on 19 April 2023, aims to fight climate change and biodiversity loss by preventing the deforestation related to EU consumption of products from cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm-oil, soya, wood, rubber, charcoal and printed paper. Already in force since 29 June 2023, its provisions were to be applied by companies from 30 December 2024.