Centre-right lawmakers in the European Parliament have drawn up proposals to weaken still further the European Union law that bans imports of goods linked to deforestation. This is confirmed by a document seen by Reuters.
As currently drafted, this much-debated regulation would require, from 30 December, that companies importing soya, beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, timber, rubber and related products prove that their supply chains have not contributed to the depletion of the world's forests; otherwise those companies could face heavy fines. Companies exporting goods from Europe will have the same obligations.
Last month Brussels announced plans to postpone implementation of the regulation by a year — until December 2025. This followed sharp objections from EU trading partners, including the United States, Brazil and Malaysia. EU lawmakers, who together with the EU member states are currently approving the delay, now also want to water down certain sections of the law.
The document seen by Reuters shows that representatives of the centre-right European People's Party in the European Parliament have proposed postponing the law by two years. There is a demand to exempt from the law's obligations a number of countries that the European Union regards as posing no significant risk of deforestation. These could be the Nordic countries, the Baltic states and the countries of Central Europe — Germany, Austria and so on.
Sources familiar with these discussions said that the initiative would release exporters based in European Union countries from the obligations set out in the deforestation law. That, of course, could further antagonise foreign countries that have already strongly criticised European policy as encouraging protectionism.
The European People's Party (EPP) is the largest group in the EU Parliament. Any proposal it makes to soften the impact of “green policy” is likely to win support from right-wing and far-right members of parliament as well. European lawmakers had been expected to approve the postponement of the deforestation law quickly, but the push for additional changes makes still more difficult negotiations likely, and these may not be resolved by the end of this year. If the delay to the legislation is not formally approved in the coming weeks, the law will enter into force immediately.
A spokesperson for the EPP did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reports. The European Union's deforestation law was hailed as a turning point in the fight against climate change. Deforestation is precisely one of the main causes of CO₂ emissions, because it releases a large share of the planet-warming carbon stored in forest stands.