
Nineteen EU countries call for EU Deforestation Law 'simplification'
"We urge the European Commission to swiftly include the Deforestation Regulation in its simplification plans in order to ensure coordinated and effective implementation of the EUDR across the EU," the letter said.
The communique was signed by the agriculture ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.
The European Commission has over the past few weeks already presented a range of simplification packages to amend pieces of legislation approved by the first Ursula von der Leyen Commission in the 2019-2024 mandate.
These packages targeted the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, as well as pieces of legislation related to the European Common Agricultural Policy, and the defence sector.
"Pending the Commission's simplification proposals, it might be advisable to further postpone the date of application of the regulation," the letter also read.
A spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters on Monday that they had not yet "located" the letter, adding however that the EU's executive has "done also a lot of effort already to simplify the regulation and the work, in a way, is still ongoing".
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is a law aimed at reducing the EU's impact on global deforestation.
It entered into force in June 2023 and classifies countries according to their risk of deforestation in the production of seven commodities: cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood.
The European Commission decided to postpone its implementation to 30 December 2025 for large and medium-sized companies, and to 30 June 2026 for micro and small companies, following pressure from member states.
In the letter, the signatory member states claim that the obligations placed on farmers, forest owners, and operators by the regulation are overly burdensome, especially for countries with little or no deforestation risk.
They argue that the requirements are disproportionate to the regulation's goal of preventing deforestation and result in higher costs for both businesses and governments.
The rules, the member states say, may also drive up raw material and production costs, increasing the risk that producers will move operations outside the EU.
Criticism by civil society
Civil society organisations have accused some EU lawmakers — including both member states and MEPs — of repeatedly attempting to undermine the legislation.
Hannah Mowat, campaigns coordinator at Fern, told Euronews that there is a disconnect between the political and technical levels. "Competent authorities in many EU countries, including some that have signed this letter, say they are ready to implement the law,' she said.
The signatories of the letter also undermined the concept of "degradation of forests", a phenomenon rising in Europe, Mowat explained.
'The agriculture ministers' letter states that European tree cover is rising, but ignores that Europe's forests are increasingly degraded. Tree farms are not forests, and across Germany, Austria, and more, large monoculture plantations have already collapsed due to disease, drought and overexploitation," Mowat told Euronews.
"The EUDR would bring much-needed scrutiny to the monoculture model by requiring that forest products be legally produced and not contribute to the degradation of forests in Europe and abroad,' she concluded.
'This proposal is not a simplification, but rather a complication for all involved parties - including companies, who will be faced with a lack of legal clarity, further delays in the application of the law, and more burdens for those that have already set up systems for compliance" Anke Schulmeister-Oldenhove, WWF Europe manager on forests, told Euronews.
"While paying lip service to stopping deforestation, ministers are in reality undermining one of the EU's flagship environmental laws, and turning a blind eye to the increasing deforestation rates globally and the impacts of climate change in the EU," she added.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Euronews
2 hours ago
- Euronews
Orban vows to veto EU budget over frozen EU funds
The Hungarian government will not vote on the EU budget until Budapest receives its frozen EU funds, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a speech at the Bálványos Free University on Saturday. According to Orban, the adoption of the EU's record-breaking budget requires unanimity. "And until we get our backlog of money, there will be no new European budget. We will bring it home, and we will not make any concessions on our sovereignty," he said. Approximately €9.5 billion in COVID-19 recovery funding and €8.4 billion in cohesion funds make up the frozen funds by Brussels over persisting concerns about Hungary's democratic backsliding. Brussels and Budapest over the years have been at loggerheads on a range of issues, most recently that of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but the situation has been made worse by the financial issue. Orbán accuses the European Commission of "financial blackmail" and meddling in domestic matters due to its reasons for freezing the funds. Hungary previously unblocked about €10.2 billion of the frozen funds following the adoption of legislation aimed at reducing political meddling in its courts and strengthening judicial independence. However, a complaint was filed by the European Parliament against the EU Commission for its controversial decision to release the €10.2 billion ahead of a crucial summit. Some €18 billion remains frozen, with no signs or indication of progress, but in front of the large audience, Orban vowed to get the EU funds. Orban claims Trump helped avoid World War III The Commission's landmark €2 trillion long-term budget for 2028–2034 emphasises defence and economic competitiveness. For it to pass, it requires unanimous agreement among member states and must also be backed by Parliament, by a majority of its component members. In his speech in Tusványos on Saturday, Viktor Orbán said that the election of US President Donald Trump has helped the world to avoid a third world war for the time being, but the chances of its outbreak are still increasing. Orbán gave a speech with a sinister tone, touching on a variety of topics that included the war in Ukraine and the Fidesz party. The Hungarian PM blasted the EU for backing Ukraine and accused the EU leaders of dangerously waging a trade war with the Trump administration that Europe "cannot win." While some of his claims were typically outlandish, Orban received applause from the audience, with one attendee saying, "We got a very clear, very understandable vision from the Prime Minister. And we are not in an easy situation."


Euronews
5 hours ago
- Euronews
Von der Leyen to meet Trump in Scotland on Sunday
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she will meet US President Donald Trump on Sunday in Scotland. In a post on X where she announced the meeting, von der Leyen added that they will "discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong." Trump also confirmed the meeting will take place after arriving in Scotland. The European Commission earlier in the week briefed member states on the progres of trade negotiations with the EU and the possibility of resorting to anti-coercion measures in the tariff dispute between the EU and the US. The member states on Thursday approved the list of retaliatory tariffs proposed by the European Commission to counter US trade measures, with only Hungary voting against. The list includes an initial package of measures adopted in early April, with up to 30% tariffs targeting products including yachts, aircraft, cars and car parts, orange juice, poultry, soybeans, steel and aluminium. This was the latest development in a negotiation process that has lasted several months. The US currently imposes 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars, and 10% on all other imports. On 12 July, Trump ramped up pressure on the EU by threatening to impose 30% tariffs as of 1 August if no agreement was reached. The White House said Trump will also be meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his visit. Trump golf tour blurs politics and family business The US President arrives in Scotland on a five-day visit during which he is set to visit a golf course in Aberdeenshire ahead of its opening on 13 August, and another near Turnberry. His family owns both golf courses. The fact that Trump is using a presidential overseas trip - complete with his large entourage of advisers, White House staff, secret service agents and reporters - to promote Trump-brand golf courses shows how the president has become increasingly comfortable mixing his pursuits on government with his family's business interests. Trump's assets are in a trust run by his children, who are also handling day-to-day operations of the Trump Organisation while he is president. The company has reached a number of lucrative foreign agreements involving golf courses, including plans to build luxury developments in Qatar and Vietnam, even as the administration negotiates tariff rates for those countries and around the globe. A White House spokesperson has called the president's visit to Scotland a 'working trip." She also said that Trump 'has built the best and most beautiful world-class golf courses anywhere in the world, which is why they continue to be used for prestigious tournaments and by the most elite players in the sport.'


Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
Trumps tees off in Scotland amid nationwide protests
US President Donald Trump played golf on Saturday at his course in Scotland while citizens around the country took to the streets to protest his visit. Trump and his son Eric played with the US ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, near Turnberry, a historic course that the Trump family's company took over in 2008. Hundreds of protesters gathered on the cobblestone and tree-lined street in front of the US Consulate about 160 kilometres away in Edinburgh, Scotland's capital. Speakers on a makeshift stage told the crowd that Trump was not welcome and they criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for striking a recent trade deal to avoid stiff US tariffs on goods imported from the UK. Protests were planned in other cities as environmental activists, opponents of Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza and pro-Ukraine groups loosely formed a 'Stop Trump Coalition." 'I think there are far too many countries that are feeling the pressure of Trump and that they feel that they have to accept him and we should not accept him here,' said June Osbourne, 52, a photographer and photo historian from Edinburgh who protested wearing a red cloak and white hood, recalling "The Handmaid's Tale." Osbourne held up picture of Trump with 'Resist' stamped over his face. The dual-US-Scottish citizen said the Republican president was "the worst thing that has happened to the world, the US, in decades.' Saturday's protests were not nearly as large as the throngs that came out across Scotland when Trump played at the resort during his first term in 2018. But bagpipes played, people chanted 'Trump Out!' and raised homemade signs that said 'No red carpet for dictators," 'We don't want you here' and 'Stop Trump. Migrants welcome.' Some on the far right took to social media to call for gatherings supporting Trump in places such as Glasgow. While in Scotland, Trump is set to talk trade with Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president.