EU Parliament and Council endorse political deal on revision of Deforestation Regulation

On 4 December 2025, the European Parliament and Council reached a provisional political agreement on a one-year postponement and targeted revision of the EU Deforestation Regulation (“EUDR”) (see Council press release and Parliament press release). The negotiating positions of both institutions were very similar (see our previous blog post). 

On 17 December 2025, the Parliament formally adopted the political agreement (see Parliament press release). 

The Parliament press release states that the text must now be endorsed by the Council. Our understanding is the Council has agreed to use the “written procedure” for the endorsement and that that is scheduled to take place on 18 December.   

The adopted text (which can be found here) now needs to be published in the Official Journal of EU, before the current EUDR becomes applicable on 30 December 2025.

Key takeaways 

• The EUDR will be delayed by one year and so will apply from 30 December 2026 for medium and large operators, and from 30 June 2027 for micro and small operators.
• Only operators first placing products on the market will be required to submit due diligence statements.
• Only the first downstream operators will have to keep and pass on the reference number of the initial statement.  
• Micro and small primary operators only will submit a one-off simplified declaration, with no obligation to update it.
• Micro and small primary operators will also have the option to replace the geolocation information with the postal address of the plots of land or establishment concerned, provided that the postal address clearly corresponds to the geographic location of the plots or establishment concerned.
• Printed products will be removed from the Regulation’s scope.
• National competent authorities will be required to share information about significant technical errors or disruptions arising in the information system.
• The definition of micro and small primary operators will be broadened. 

Background

On 21 October 2025, the European Commission published a proposal for targeted changes to the EUDR, including a six-month grace period in enforcement for medium and large operators and a six-month postponement for micro and small operators, as well as other simplification measures (see our previous blog post). The Commission called on the European Parliament and the Council to adopt the proposal swiftly before the entry into application of the EUDR by the end of year 2025. 

On 19 November and 26 November 2025, the European Parliament and Council adopted their negotiating positions on the Commission’s proposal (see our previous blog post).  

One-year postponement and further simplification measures 

In response to concerns regarding operational readiness and the technical complexities of the new information system, the Council and Parliament agreed to remove the Commission’s grace period for large and medium companies. Instead, they agreed a one-year postponement of the application of the Regulation for all operators, until 30 December 2026 for medium and large operators and 30 June 2027 for micro and small operators.

The Council and Parliament supported the Commission’s proposed simplification measures, including limiting the requirement to submit due diligence statements only to operators first placing products on the market. In addition, downstream operators and traders will not be required to submit separate due diligence statements.

The final deal also contains several additional measures, including: 

• Micro and small primary operators may choose to replace the geolocation information with the postal address of all plots of land or the postal address of the establishment from which the relevant commodities have been produced, provided that the postal address clearly corresponds to the geographic location of the plots or establishment concerned.
• Limiting the obligation to collect and transfer reference numbers of due diligence statements and declaration identifiers to only the first downstream operator or trader. This removes the requirement for further downstream operators and traders to handle these numbers within the supply chain.
• Removing printed products from Annex I to the Regulation (products falling under Chapter 49 of the Combined Nomenclature including printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry, manuscripts, typescripts and plans, of paper), thereby excluding them from the Regulation’s scope.
• Broadening the definition of micro and small primary operators so that those able to demonstrate that - the parts of their balance sheet total, net turnover and average number of employees which relate to the relevant commodities and the relevant products do not exceed the limits for at least two of these three criteria for micro and small undertakings as set out in the Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU - will be treated as micro and small primary operators (instead of considering all activities).
• National competent authorities will be required, before the EUDR enters into application, to share information about significant technical errors or disruptions arising in the information system.
• The European Commission will be required to carry out a simplification review by 30 April 2026, to evaluate the administrative burden and impact of the Regulation, particularly for micro and small operators. The Commission will be required to outline in its report possible ways to address any issues identified, including through technical guidelines, improvements to the IT system, delegated or implementing acts and, where appropriate, a legislative proposal.

Further reading 

For more information on the EUDR, see our previous blog posts:

• Deforestation Regulation: EU imposes new due diligence duties on operators and traders

• EU Deforestation Regulation: country risk classification adopted by the Commission

• EU: Commission publishes new guidance and draft Delegated Act to simplify due diligence requirements under Deforestation Regulation

• EU: Commission publishes proposal with targeted changes to Deforestation Regulation

• EU Council and Parliament adopt their negotiating positions on revision of Deforestation Regulation