The European Union has agreed to postpone the implementation of its anti-deforestation law by one year, but the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) failed in its attempt to weaken the legislation, a setback for the group’s regulatory reform agenda.
The agreement reached on Tuesday evening between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, and the European Commission upholds the Commission’s initial plan to delay the law, which is now set to take effect on December 30, 2025. No significant changes will be made to the law’s core content.
The EPP had proposed amendments to the law, including a “no risk” category that would have eased due diligence requirements for commodities from areas with negligible deforestation risk. However, the measure was met with strong opposition from the Commission and EU member states, with concerns about potential conflicts with World Trade Organization regulations. POLITICO reported that the EPP withdrew this proposal late last week.
The EPP had previously scaled back its proposed reforms before a vote in November, dropping ideas like a two-year delay and various exemptions that critics argued would have undermined the law’s objective of ensuring EU products do not contribute to global deforestation.
In a concession to the EPP, the Commission agreed to explore ways to simplify the regulation and reduce the regulatory burden in 2028. “The Commission will provide further clarifications and explore additional simplifications, and streamline reporting and document obligations, to keep them to a necessary minimum,” the statement read.
