The curtain falls on a tense and complicated political battle around the EU law on imported deforestation. Less than a month before the original date of application (30 December 2024), the European institutions have found a agreement to postpone by one year the application of the rules, but without touching the fundamental principles.
This is a political defeat for the European People's Party (Ppe), which with the support of the far right forces had attempted to exploit the European Commission's proposed extension to weaken the text. The amendments proposed by the centre-right coalition, narrowly approved by Parliament, were rejected by the governments of the Twenty-seven, who preferred to maintain the original text of the Commission. law remains intact, imposing strict obligations on companies to ensure that products placed on the single market do not contribute to global deforestation.
The final agreement: no changes, but one more year
On the evening of December 3, negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council reached a provisional agreement that sweeps away the changes wanted by the centre-right and maintains only the one-year postponement for the application of the regulation. Yesterday, December 4, the Parliament's Environment Committee confirmed the agreement, which is now awaiting the final vote of the plenary the 17th December in Strasbourg.
The EPP, despite being defeated, nevertheless claimed the postponement and the Commission's commitment to evaluate measures to simplify and reduce administrative burdens in the context of the review planned for 2028.
The Council reiterated that there would be “no step back on the substance” of the law, and the European Commission stressed that the objectives of the regulation remain unchanged.
What does the regulation on deforestation provide?
Il regulation, known as Eudora (Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products), is one of the cornerstones of the European Green Deal. It prohibits the importation and sale of products related to deforestation and requires producers, processors and traders to monitor their supply chains to ensure that raw materials such as palm oil, wood, beef, rubber and derivatives (including chocolate, furniture and printed paper) do not come from destroyed forest areas.
Companies will have to ensure the traceability of raw materials, a process that requires significant investments in transparency and control.
The one-year postponement – to December 30, 2025 for large companies and June 30, 2026 for micro and small – was granted to allow Member States, economic operators and third countries to adapt to the new rules. The European Commission has defined the measure as “a balanced compromise” to ensure predictability and legal certainty, without compromising the objectives of the regulation.
Green Deal under attack: EPP prepares second round
After the battle on deforestation, the next objective of the EPP is the regulation that it imposes Zero emissions for new vehicles by 2035European carmakers, struggling with falling demand for electric vehicles, are pushing to revise targets and reduce fines for those who do not meet CO2 limits.
The EPP's attempt to bypass the "sanitary cordon" and seek votes on the right has created new fractures in the already fragile pro-European majority. If the EPP continues to seek votes on the right to weaken the Green Deal, the unity of the European Parliament could be seriously compromised. For now, however, the Green Deal holds its course. The game, however, is far from over.
