The European Parliament has voted to weaken the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), excluding printed products such as newspapers and books from its scope. The move follows the Council’s push to postpone and dilute the law, drawing sharp criticism from environmental groups.
WWF described the timing as “empty promises to the environment,” warning that the decision undermines Europe’s credibility on climate action.
“What started as an IT issue has morphed into a chaotic and unmanageable situation. The European Commission must urgently clean up this mess and take back control,” said Anke Schulmeister‑Oldenhove, Policy Manager for Forests at WWF European Policy Office.
The organisation argues the proposal betrays prior negotiations. In October, the Commission flagged IT problems as a potential obstacle to implementation. Rather than resolving the technical issue, both the Council and Parliament seized on it as a pretext to reopen the file, weaken the regulation, and create uncertainty around its rollout.
Both institutions have now demanded a review of a regulation that has yet to be applied. WWF called the move premature and irresponsible, noting that there will be no real‑world experience of how the EUDR functions to inform such a review.
Critics also highlighted the contradiction between EU leaders’ recent commitments at the Belém climate summit and their actions in Brussels. WWF warned that destruction of the Amazon and other ecosystems is already undermining Europe’s climate stability, economic resilience and biodiversity.
Supporters of the delay argue it is necessary to ease burdens on industry, framing the decision in terms of competitiveness. WWF dismissed this as short‑sighted, pointing out that many companies have already invested heavily in compliance and sustainability, only to be penalised for acting early and responsibly.
“The approach adopted today represents a complete withdrawal from responsibility towards future generations, who will bear the cost of delayed action,” Schulmeister‑Oldenhove said. “The Commission needs to learn from this lesson: it must stop the dismantling of the EUDR and the Environmental Omnibus. All hell will break loose with more simplification.”
WWF is now calling on the European Commission to bring the regulation back on track and refrain from further deregulation of environmental and climate laws.
