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The EU’s Regulation on deforestation-free products (the Regulation, (EU) 2023/1115) was on course to apply across the EU from 30 December 2024, and from 30 June 2025 for micro and small entities.
However, in September 2024, the European Commission (the Commission) published a proposal for an amending regulation which would see the Regulation's application delayed by 12 months (applying from 30 December 2025 and from 30 June 2026 for micro and small entities).
The Council of the EU (the Council) approved the one-year extension by adopting the proposed amending regulation on 16 October 2024. The European Parliament (the Parliament) was expected to follow suit when the amendment was tabled for a vote at a plenary session on 14 November 2024. However, while the Parliament also voted to approve the one-year postponement, it went further than expected and voted in approval of amendments to the Regulation.
The most significant of these amendments is the proposal to introduce a new category of “no risk” countries to the Regulation's country benchmarking system. This additional category would be in addition to the existing three categories of 'low', 'standard' and 'high' risk of deforestation. Countries classified as 'no risk' – defined as countries with “stable or increasing forest area development” – would face significantly less stringent requirements under the Regulation.
These amendments were not proposed by the Commission and potentially complicate what was intended to be a simple act of postponement.
Next steps
In accordance with the EU legislative process, the Council and Parliament must now enter into interinstitutional negotiations (trilogues) with the Commission on these amendments. This will need to done at some speed to ensure everything is agreed before the end of the year. It remains to be seen what position the Council will take on the Parliament’s amendments. While some Member State governments have been vocal in their opposition to the Regulation, the understanding was that only a delay was on the table and the Regulation was not up for renegotiation.