In the first vote on environmental matters of its new term, the European parliament agreed on Thursday to delay and water down new rules aiming to ensure that products sold in the European market do not come from deforested land.

Under a regulation adopted in 2023, companies selling products beef, cocoa, coffee, palm-oil, soy, wood, rubber, charcoal and printed paper will have to trace raw materials back to the source to prove they did not cause deforestation, or face fines and possible bans.

The law, a landmark of the European Green Deal, aims to reduce the impact of European consumption worldwide. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that goods consumed in the EU cause around 10% of global deforestation, with palm oil and soy accounting for two-thirds of this.

The regulation was due to apply from 30 December 2024, but the commission proposed delaying it until end 2025 for large operators and 30 June 2026 for small enterprises, following concerns from non-EU countries, EU governments and traders.

On Thursday, the European parliament accepted the proposal and adopted further changes put forward by the conservative European People’s Party.

These include the controversial creation of a new category of countries posing “no risk” on deforestation in addition to the existing categories of “low”, “standard” and “high” risk. Goods from countries classified as “no risk” would face fewer requirements.

The amendments were passed with the support of the far-right and some
MEPs from the centrist Renew group, including the VVD.

“Today the Christian Democrats carried out a political kamikaze action with the help of the extreme right,” said GroenLinks-PvdA MEP Bas Eickhout. “In these uncertain and unstable times, citizens and businesses need certainty and clarity, not political games. If we want to solve big problems in Europe we need to build a stable pro-European coalition, not axe the foundations of good governance.”

Environmental group Greenpeeace said that centre-right and far-right parties “teamed up to begin to dismantle the EU Green Deal,” arguing that the proposed changes to the regulation introduce “loopholes” and create “risks of circumvention.”

Lack of clarity

Greenpeaace and WWF have called on the commission to withdraw the proposal to delay the application of the rules.

EU governments had already agreed to the delay, but changes adopted in parliament now require negotiations on a joint text to be published in the EU Official Journal before 30 December, otherwise the original regulation will come into effect as it is.

“This is really irresponsible, because under the current situation the commission has to start enforcing the law from the beginning of next year. With only a few weeks to go, companies do not really know where they stand,” Eickhout added.