BOISmag 231

The EUDR Two-Step”

One step forward, two steps back… The implementation of the EUDR continues to give professionals plenty of headaches. Approved by the European Commission as early as 2023, the text of the future European regulation against deforestation and forest degradation (EUDR) keeps being revised, postponed, reformulated, rejected, trimmed… After the announcement of yet another delay in its implementation at the end of September, the European Commission finally decided a month later to do exactly the opposite! That is, to introduce a “simplified” version of the text on December 30 for medium and large companies (more than 50 employees), and one year later for smaller ones. A decision that has stirred quite a bit of unrest within industry bodies and trade federations, which denounce a text that is “out of touch, unfinished, and dangerous for European competitiveness.”

For the French Timber Trade Association (LCB), the Commission’s proposal “is heading in the wrong direction.” The union points to a lack of pragmatism, with two implementation dates, a European database that is still far from secure, and a flood of legal uncertainties leaving companies in the dark.

This view is shared by the National Federation of Wood (FNB), which also denounces a “collective punishment” inflicted on European firms: “This distortion of competition is infuriating companies because the Commission is imposing on European businesses alone an administrative burden that their competitors do not face. This administrative burden is estimated at over €20 billion per year, despite the fact that there is no deforestation in Europe. European companies are calling for this collective punishment to be lifted so that all countries worldwide are subject to the same rules.”

The result: professionals oscillating between exasperation and concern. While no one disputes the necessity of this regulation to combat imported deforestation, the current form of the EUDR is unanimously criticized. The coming weeks will be decisive, as the text still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and Council under tight deadlines. Federations are hoping for a thorough review (system security, legal clarification, unified timeline, recognition of existing mechanisms…). Failing that, the EUDR two-step may well turn into regulatory cacophony, with everyone dancing to a different rhythm—to the detriment of the entire sector.

Adèle Cazier