On 2 October 2024, the European Commission (EC) published four long awaited documents relating to the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

Importantly, the EC has introduced a legislative proposal to amend the EUDR’s implementation timeline. The EUDR in its current version foresees an implementation starting 30 December 2024. If adopted by the Council of the European Union (the EU Council) and the European Parliament, the EUDR’s entry into force would be postponed by one year, until 30 December 2025 (30 June 2026 for small companies). Other key dates of the EUDR’s implementation timeline would also be postponed, including the repeal of the current EU Timber Regulation which would now occur between 30 December 2025 and 31 December 2028.

The EU Council and the European Parliament now have almost three months to approve the amendment proposed by the EC. By comparison, these two institutions used an urgent procedure to postpone the application of the Medical Devices Regulation a month before its scheduled entry into force, in 2020. The timing in the present case therefore appears realistic.

The EC indicates that it wishes to give EU Member States, exporting countries, operators and traders more time to be prepared for the EUDR’s entry into force, “to fully establish the necessary due diligence systems”. It also notes that additional time will allow for “further engagement with third countries”, given opposition to the EUDR.  

Global Unease

Internally, different EU Member State governments (including that of Germany) and companies have called for the implementation of the EUDR to be suspended or slowed down, due to concerns regarding the burden it sets on businesses. Overseas, exporting countries have long maintained that the EUDR is discriminatory and likely to hinder trade. From letters sent by countries such as Brazil, Indonesia or Canada, to concerns voiced by World Trade Organization Members and its Director-General, the EU has faced sustained diplomatic backlash for the EUDR.

The EC may therefore be seeking time to help companies adjust and to appease foreign governments.

However, an interesting feature here is that the composition of the European Parliament that will need to adopt the postponement proposal is different from the one that adopted the EUDR. In principle, the Parliament may propose any amendment to the proposal (which will have to be agreed to by the EU Council). This creates some uncertainties in a period where companies are in any case taking active and burdensome measures to comply with the EUDR by the deadline currently applicable, i.e. 30 December 2024.

It will therefore be key to monitor the position taken by the co-legislators, and notably the EU Parliament, on what has become a rather contentious file.

Additional Documents Published

Other than the postponement of the EUDR’s entry into force, the EC has published long awaited documents, i.e. a Guidance Document and answers to Frequently Asked Questions both aimed at clarifying how the EUDR will be implemented.

Finally, the EC has made available a draft Communication on Strategic Framework of International Cooperation Engagement, which could play a role in addressing external aspects of the EUDR, including continued third-country unease with it.

This Communication includes an Annex that gives a first glimpse on the EC’s methodology on the benchmarking system. The EC estimates that the majority of countries will be classified as low risk with the current methodology, while high-risk countries may be retained for countries currently facing EU Sanctions. The EC plans to continue engaging with third countries to develop the benchmarking system, with the aim to finalise an Implementing Act categorising countries by risk level, by 30 June 2025.

Guillermo Giralda Fustes contributed to this article