A proposed one-year delay in enforcing the EU’s anti-deforestation rules has sparked concern, with many fearing that reopening the discussion could weaken key provisions.
However, the postponement is far from guaranteed. The Parliament and Council have less than three months to finalise inter-institutional negotiations, and it remains uncertain whether governments and MEPs will reach a consensus to delay the rules.
While the EPP welcomed the move, others, such as socialist MEP Delara Burkhardt, a member of the Parliament’s ENVI committee and EUDR negotiator, warned that the right wing must not use this chance to "water down" the regulation.
This sentiment was echoed by French MEP Pascal Canfin, Renew’s ENVI coordinator, who cautioned: "Faced with the risk of reopening the entire text, I hope the EPP sticks to what it asked for and won, without aligning with the far right to push for more."
The "postponement is already a defeat", said Italian S&D and ENVI committee chair Antonio Decaro, warning that the initiative could only "make sense" if accompanied by "a package of incentives and guidelines" for producers.
Moreover, some stakeholders expressed dissatisfaction with the Commission’s proposal. FEDIOL, the EU lobby representing palm oil traders andothers, argued that the delay would cause economic losses for companies tha thave already invested heavily to comply with the new rules.
Meanwhile, a coalition of cocoa companies, including Nestlé, Ferrero, Mondelēz, Mars, Tony's Chocolonely, and NGOs like the Rainforest Alliance and Solidaridad, "strongly opposed" any move to reopen the substance of the EUDR during upcoming negotiations.
