"EU countries oppose MEPs’ attempts to re-open deforestation law," 20 November 2024

...EU diplomats have rejected European Parliament amendments to the Commission’s proposal to push back the entry into force of the bloc’s new deforestation rules by one year.

Instead, member states insist on adhering to the original text presented by the EU executive in October...

Among the amendments, largely championed by the centre-right European People’s Party, MEPs sought to introduce a new classification for countries posing "no risk" of deforestation, alongside the existing categories of low, standard, and high risk.

However, in a meeting of EU ambassadors... member states reaffirmed in “a clear message from that they want to stick to the original proposal from the Commission,” a diplomatic source said... The Commission explained that the delay would provide a 12-month phasing-in period to “ensure proper and effective implementation”.

The Parliament’s amendments aimed to streamline the process and reduce burdens on importers, but environmental NGOs argued this would lower compliance standards...

For Greenpeace EU forest policy director Sébastien Risso, Parliament's "chaotic amendments [...] tried to carve out loopholes bigger than the Amzon rainforest at this late, late stage... EU governments have just taken a sensible position," he added.