EU deforestation law’s substance unchanged. One-year postponement agreed with support from Renew Europe

In line with the Renew Europe position, co-legislators from the European Parliament and the Council agreed a deal this evening to postpone the application of deforestation legislation by one year, as proposed by the European Commission.

Attempts by opponents of the Green Deal in the Parliament to weaken the legislation have been stopped. However, due to tight time constraints and concerns of some stakeholders, we agreed to the Commission proposal to postpone the application of the legislation by one year, as did EU Members States.

At the same time, we wanted to keep the architecture of the law intact in order to ensure forest protection and legal clarity for businesses. This was achieved in tonight’s trilogue negotiation.

Deforestation and forest degradation are happening worldwide at an alarming rate and European consumption is responsible for around 17% of tropical deforestation linked to internationally traded commodities such as wood, cattle, palm oil, soy, coffee and cocoa.

Pascal Canfin, Renew Europe’s Coordinator on the ENVI Committee, said:

“There will be no changes to the essence of the deforestation law, and only a 12-month postponement of its entry into force, as initially proposed by the European Commission. This is excellent news for all those who mobilised to defend this flagship Green Deal law, and for all the companies that will have to implement it and expect the greatest legal clarity from us. Europe remains at the forefront of forest protection worldwide. The next step will be the publication of risk categories by country, as soon as possible before June 2025. Attempts by the right wing of the house to weaken this law have led them to hit the wall. Renew Europe has worked and succeeded with partners in the Parliament and the Council to stop them.”