The EUDR will not have a “no risk” pathway after the European Council canned the new classification proposed by the centre-right European Peoples’ Party last month. At the same time, the EU will consider “simplified requirements” for countries with sustainable forest management practices and has also left the door ajar for an “emergency break” – a scenario that could see the EUDR postponed if the online platform is not operational next December.
That is, according to the latest round of negotiations between the EU and co-legislators (including the European Parliament, EU member countries, and the European Commission), which have thrashed out a final EUDR arrangement ahead of the EU vote later this month.
It comes as Wood Central revealed that Christine Schneider, a German member of the European Peoples Party, was pushing to establish the controversial “no risk” country category, defined as countries with “stable or increasing forest area development” – a move slammed by environmental groups for creating loopholes for resource laundering.
Ms Schneider, who withdrew the party’s request for a “no risk category” on Tuesday, said that whilst the party would have “preferred to see several issues directly enshrined in law,” the members have promised and delivered: “This postponement means businesses, foresters, farmers, and authorities will have an additional year to prepare.”
“We ensured the Commission will complete the online platform and the risk categorisation in six months, ensuring more predictability across the supply chain. An impact assessment and further simplification will follow in the review stage for the low-risk countries or regions, providing countries with an incentive to improve their forest conservation practices.”
“The good news is that we’ve reached an agreement on the EUDR,” said Jessika Roswall, the European Union commissioner for environment, water, resilience and a competitive circular economy. “The EUDR would not change the law in substance; it simply gives all businesses and farmers an extra 12 months to adapt,” Ms Roswall said on Twitter X.
“Like a bad soap opera, the EUDR legislative process has unfolded in a dramatic fashion over the past few weeks only to land back at square one,” said Fyfe Strachan, Earthsight’s head of policy, who noted that outright rejection of the “no risk” category “was the only sensible course of action.”
Wood Central understands that a vote on the agreement between the colegislators has now been added to the agenda ahead of the Parliament’s next plenary session (16-19 December). For it to enter into force, the agreed text has to be endorsed by both Parliament and the Council and published in the EU Official Journal before the year’s end.
- For more information on EUDR and its impact on global furniture supply chains, visit Wood Central’s special feature on EUDR and its implications for the European supply chain for timber-based furniture products.
