Council Agreement a Severe Setback for Global Forest Protection and Climate Change
After a proposal by the European Commission of a one-year delay was rejected last Wednesday, the Council of the European Union has adopted its new negotiating mandate today to postpone, simplify and review the landmark EU regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR).
The Council agreed to drastically reduce due diligence obligations and to postpone the application of the EUDR until 30 December 2026 for large companies—and even further, until 2027, for small and micro-operators—while also introducing a review clause next year that would allow the European Commission to reopen the regulation to make additional changes.
Isabel Fernandez, senior advisor for Mighty Earth, said:
“EU member states have just agreed to massively betray the Amazon rainforest and other key forests crucial for tackling climate change by agreeing to postpone the landmark EUDR by another year.
“While EU climate negotiators mouth platitudes at COP30 in the Amazon in Brazil, member states in Brussels are condemning another 70,000 hectares of forests like the Amazon to be razed to the ground via this outrageous proposal to further postpone the EUDR.
“A second postponement is simply a way for laggards in deforestation-risk industries, such as meat, soy, palm oil and cocoa, to buy more time to keep attacking and trying to kill off the EU’s flagship zero-deforestation law.
“This massively undermines the EU’s role as a so-called climate leader. If this crucial law is not implemented in full and on time, there will be devastating consequences not just for tropical forests, and the people and wildlife that live there, but for the whole planet.”
