Governments back delay to anti-deforestation law

The EU Council has agreed to a last-minute delay implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation, with a majority of national diplomats signalling their support at a closed meeting on Wednesday.

The law, due to take effect from the end of this year, requires suppliers of cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, wood, rubber, and beef to prove their goods are not linked to deforestation in exchange for access to the EU market. The European Commission proposed this month a one-year delay in the face of an international backlash, not least from major trading partners like the US and Brazil.

The delay would give “legal certainty, predictability and sufficient time for a smooth and effective implementation of the rules, including fully establishing due diligence systems covering all relevant commodities and products”, the Council said in a statement.

Conservation groups took a different view, however. Anke Schulmeister-Oldenhove at the WWF European Policy Office accused governments of putting companies who made the effort to comply with the law at a disadvantage, and ignoring the views of citizens who took part in the second most heavily subscribed EU public consultation.

“With this decision, Member States explicitly condone 12 more months of forest destruction for European consumption,” Schulmeister-Oldenhove said. “Not only do they disregard the democratic decisions already made and the 1.2 million Europeans who have called to put a stop to deforestation, but they also betray the companies that have invested heavily to comply with the regulations, and the competitive fairness this Commission claims to uphold.”

Over 200 environmental and human rights groups had written to lawmakers on Tuesday (15 October) warning that delaying the law would mean “significantly undermining the EU’s credibility as a global leader in the fight against climate change, biodiversity loss and human rights violations” in the run-up to key UN climate and biodiversity summits.

The agreement among EU permanent representatives means formal endorsement by government ministers is now a mere rubber stamp. Leaders of the main political groups in the European Parliament, where majority support from MEPs is also required, agreed last week to fast-track the amendment without discussion at the committee stage – a move some hope will limit the scope for any further watering down of the law.