EU Deforestation Regulation: Parliament and Council agree one-year delay

On 3 December 2024, the European Parliament and Council reached a political agreement on a proposal to delay the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by one year (see EP press release, Council press release and Commission press release). 

So what exactly have the Parliament and Council agreed? 

The Parliament and Council have agreed with the Commission's proposal to delay application of the EUDR by one year - from the current date of 30 December 2024 to 30 December 2025 for large in-scope companies and 30 June 2026 for small and micro enterprises. This will allow operators and traders, as well as third countries and EU Member States, an extra year to prepare for the implementation of the Regulation.

The Parliament had also asked for a number of other changes to the EUDR - the most significant of which is the creation of a new category of countries posing “no risk” on deforestation, in addition to the existing three categories of “low”, “standard” and “high” risk (see our previous blog post). Countries classified as “no risk” (defined as countries with stable or increasing forest area development) would have faced significantly less stringent requirements. However, these changes were dropped during the trilogue negotiations after resistance from the Council and Commission. 

Instead, the Commission has said it: “will continue providing further clarifications on the legislation and explore additional simplifications, in full compliance with the objectives of the Regulation, through updates of the guidelines and the frequently asked questions document”. 

The EUDR envisages a general review of the Regulation by 2028. In the context of that review, the Commission has agreed to consider additional measures to simplify and reduce the administrative burden, following an impact assessment.

In addition, the Commission aims to finalise the country benchmarking system as soon as possible but no later than 30 June 2025. 

And the Information System where businesses will register their due diligence statements will enter into operation on 4 December 2024.

Next steps 

The political agreement now needs to be formally endorsed by the Parliament and Council but this will hopefully just be a formality. 

It is expected the legislation amending the EUDR will be published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU) and enter into force before 30 December 2024. 

We will provide a further update when the amending legislation has been published in the OJEU.

Further reading 

For more information on the EUDR, including Commission guidance and FAQs, see our previous blog posts:

• Deforestation Regulation: EU imposes new due diligence duties on operators and traders
• EU Deforestation Regulation: Commission publishes guidance and proposes 12-month delay to application date