EU Council supports delay and weakening of the EUDR

Today, the Council of the European Union agreed to delay, amend and potentially reopen the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), a law which aims to prevent EU consumption from driving deforestation and associated illegal activity across the world.

The Council’s position, which will need to be agreed by the EU Parliament, would:

• Delay the law’s start date until 30 December 2026, or 30 June 2027 for micro and small companies
• Amend the law to reduce its obligations on retailers and some producers, and
• Require the Commission to undertake a ‘simplification review’ of the law by April 2026, which could lead to more amendments. 

Earthsight’s Policy and Communications Lead, Fyfe Strachan, said:

“As world leaders gather at COP, EU Member States have agreed to stall and weaken the bloc’s most significant anti-deforestation measure – a decision that undermines efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

The deforestation caused by yet another year’s delay to the EUDR – just one of the changes the Council endorsed today – will have a carbon impact equivalent to the emissions of 18 million cars.¹ 

The requirement for the Commission to review the EUDR by April 2026 is senseless. As the law will not yet be applied, decision-makers will have no evidence of how it works in practice.

Instead, this review is likely to be a political game, played at the expense of the world’s forests and the communities that depend on them. It will open up this important law to be picked apart by industry laggards and their lobbyists.

Another delay, with possible further amendments to come, leaves businesses in limbo, creates legal uncertainty, and punishes those that have done the work and are ready to comply with the EUDR.”

All eyes are now on the European Parliament, which is expected to vote on the law in the week commencing 24 November.

Ms Strachan said: “Last week, the European People’s Party (EPP) allied itself with far-right anti-EU parties to undermine corporate sustainability and human rights. We urge the EPP to rethink this dangerous strategy, which legitimises far-right parties and their fringe views. The EU Parliament cannot let this same alliance dismantle the EUDR. Instead, it must stand strong and commit to keeping the law intact and implementing it on time.”

ENDS 

Notes to Editors 

• Earthsight is a London-based non-profit committed to exposing environmental and social crime and their links to global consumption.  
• The EUDR bans the import or trade within Europe of palm oil, beef, leather, cocoa, coffee, soy, rubber and timber – and some derived goods – produced illegally or on land deforested since 2020. 
• The EUDR was passed in June 2023, following three years of discussion and debate, and was delayed for one year at the end of 2024.
• The amendments endorsed by the Council include a reduction in due diligence requirements for small primary producers and downstream businesses, including retailers and companies that manufacture goods from raw materials already sold in the EU.
• On 13 November 2025, the European People’s Party (EPP) voted with the far right to push through the Omnibus I measures, which weaken several corporate sustainability laws including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
• The Council’s media release is here: https://r.newsletter.consilium.europa.eu/mk/mr/sh/1t6AVsd2XFnIGNV7NshxWWSCdRShAk/RDpN2XZY16sV  

Earthsight Policy and Communications Lead Fyfe Strachan: fyfestrachan@earthsight.org.uk

References:

¹An impact assessment prepared for the EU anticipated that the EUDR could contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 49MT C02  per year in 2030, as a result of avoided deforestation. Source: Bougas, K, et al., European Commission (DG ENV)  (2021) “Service contract on EU policy on forest products and deforestation, Task 3 -Impact assessment on demand side measures to address deforestation. Final report.” , p. 6, available at: https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/34861680-e799-4d7c-bbad-da83c45da458/library/5d098237-8bab-48a6-a6c8-2a907d80c791/details. A separate study considering industrial emissions calculated that a C02 reduction potential of 49 Mt  per annum would be equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of 18 million middle class cars each running 12,500 kilometres per year.  Ecofys (2012) “Climate protection with rapid payback”, available at: https://www.eiif.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/ClimateProtectionWithRapidPayback_online.pdf