Austrian agriculture and economy ministers called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to delay the implementation of the new EU anti-deforestation regulation (EUDR) scheduled for January 2025, according to Euractiv.
The April 27 letter is addressed to von der Leyen and EU Commissioners Maroš Šefčovič, Janusz Wojciechowski, and Virginijus Sinkevičius. The text was endorsed by Austria’s minister of agriculture Norbert Totschnig and economy minister Martin Kocher.
Large-scale deforestation occurs in countries outside the EU, while forest areas in the EU have been increasing for decades. In Austria, for example, there has been an increase of 330,000 hectares in the last 60 years to now approximately four million hectares.
Opponents of the EUDR argued that implementation of the regulation needed to classify countries or regions into three different categories (high, standard and low) depending on the risk of deforestation.
Under the new regulations, shipments from high-risk areas would be subject to stricter inspections, whereas requirements for buyers purchasing from low-risk regions would be simplified. However all countries, including EU member states, would fall under the standard risk category in 2025, they noted, as the Commission hinted at delaying the initial categorisation until next year.
“The lack of classification by the EC [European Commission] for low-risk countries means disproportionately higher control efforts and increased due diligence obligations for all market participants.”
The ministers emphasised that their proposal received support from 22 EU countries, including Finland, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden, during a Council meeting last month. Several agriculture ministers, including representatives from Germany and Latvia, supported the calls during a meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries (AGRIFISH) Council on April 29. Germany’s agriculture minister Cem Özdemir stated:
The Federal Republic of Germany is not a high-risk country in terms of deforestation, quite the opposite. And that’s not just anyone saying that, but someone known to be a member of the Green party.
The president of the EU AGRIFISH Council, Belgian minister David Clarinval, reported that over a dozen member states had expressed support for delaying the implementation of the EUDR.
