“After me, the fires: EU Agriculture Ministers try to dismantle deforestation law”

WWF strongly condemns proposals by Austria and Luxembourg to “simplify” the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which were presented to Agriculture and Fisheries ministers today - mere months after Member States had confirmed that the substance of the law should remain untouched.

Framed as efforts to ease administrative burden, these proposals amount to a deliberate attempt to dismantle one of the EU’s most important environmental laws, before it has even been implemented.

The claim that the EUDR is overly burdensome for small farmers and forest owners is at best speculative, given that the EUDR will only apply to them in a year, in June 2026. Also all EU countries are in a low risk category, with fewer obligations on companies and even less for small farmers and forest owners…

The proposals put forward today not only ignore the EU’s role as a key importer of commodities linked to deforestation but also forget that the EUDR covers not only deforestation but also forest degradation. By advocating for a ‘no risk’ category for EU Member States, ministers turn a blind eye to the very real threats facing Europe’s own forests, notably forest degradation and also illegal logging…