The European Commission first proposed deferring the EUDR a further 12 months in September after it had already been pushed back a year from the original implementation date of December 2024. In October it then proposed reverting to the December 2025 introduction deadline, but with a range of simplifications of the Regulation. These included the proposal that only larger businesses first placing in scope commodities, including timber, on the EU market would have to input compliance data to the EUDR Traces IT platform. Additionally micro and small primary operators would only have to make a simple, one-off declaration in the EUDR IT system. Also, if the relevant information is already available, these smaller businesses would not have to take any action in the IT System themselves, replacing the previous need for regular submissions of due diligence statements.
Then on November 19, the European Council, comprising member state national ministers backed the simplifications, but also a further year’s delay in implementation.
On November 26 the European Parliament voted 402 to 250, with eight abstentions, in favour of this approach. This would mean large companies would not have to comply with the EUDR until December 2026, and small and micro enterprises would have until July 2027 before it came into force for them.
The new positions of the European Council and Parliament not only back the further year’s delay, they call on the European Commission to carry out an additional EUDR simplification review by the end of April 2026. Its aim, they say, should be to evaluate the administrative impact and burden of the Regulation, potentially leading to further amendments.
The Socialist and Democrats group in the European Parliament criticised the move to delay and amend the EUDR. They said it would penalise companies which had already prepared for the Regulation and lead to confusion about compliance in the marketplace.
The European Peoples Party group, which put forward the delay and revision amendments to Parliament, said the push back and simplifications were vital.
“Today’s vote demonstrates the EPP Group’s commitment to protecting the world’s forests, while also listening to the concerns of farmers, foresters and businesses affected,” the EPP’s negotiator Christine Schneider said.
The news platform Euractiv reported that negotiations between the European Parliament and EU Member States on the final shape of the EUDR are now expected to proceed quickly as the Council and Parliament share the same position. The final plenary vote is planned for the week of December 15.
The EUDR was initially introduced by the EU in November 2021, with proposals aimed at effectively banning deforestation-linked products on the EU market and establishing strong compliance requirements for companies providing or utilizing key so-called Forest and Eco-system Risk Commodities (FERCs). These are timber, palm oil, beef, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy.
