Latest EUDR Proposal “Outrageous”
The European Commission has just released its latest proposal to amend the flagship European Deforestation Regulation – known as the EUDR. The EUDR is due to become applicable from 30 December 2025, but there have been loud calls for this flagship climate law to be further delayed, revised, or simplified.
In response to the EC’s proposal, Mighty Earth Senior Advisor Isabel Fernandez said:
“We totally reject the European Commission’s last-minute proposals, offered up less than 100 days before the EU Deforestation Regulation takes effect, to open up and massively weaken this already agreed-to law.
“The Commission’s outrageous proposal to let huge operators and traders off the hook—by exempting massive European retailers like Aldi and Lidl and some major traders from their due diligence duties under the EUDR—would betray the public trust. Large retailers have a critical role to play in ensuring their business practices no longer contribute to deforestation, and in taking full responsibility for their environmental impact. But these changes would open the door for deforestation-tainted products to keep flooding onto European shelves. European consumers deserve to know that the beef, soy, coffee, palm oil or chocolate they buy isn’t driving deforestation across the globe.
“The European Commission should immediately withdraw its mad-cap proposal to cut a number of massively important legal obligations contained in the EUDR and instead work intensively with producer and member countries, companies, smallholders and civil society to ensure the successful roll out and smooth implementation of this groundbreaking zero-deforestation law in the New Year.”
