On Thursday evening, Parliament and Council negotiators reached a provisional political agreement on a one-year postponement of the EU Deforestation Regulation for all businesses, plus targeted solutions to make it easier for companies, global stakeholders and member states to implement.
Postponement for companies
All businesses will have one more year to comply with new EU rules to prevent deforestation. Large operators and traders will now have to apply the regulation from 30 December 2026, and small operators – private individuals and micro- or small enterprises – from 30 June 2027. This additional time is intended to guarantee a smooth transition and to allow time to improve the IT system that operators, traders and their representatives use to make electronic due diligence statements.
To make sure the system works well, Parliament introduced a requirement for the competent authorities to share information about significant technical errors or disruptions arising in the information system.
Simplification of due diligence requirements
The co-legislators agreed that responsibility for submitting a due diligence statement should fall to the businesses that are first to place a relevant product on the EU market, and not the operators and traders that subsequently commercialise it.
The agreement reduces the obligations on micro and small primary operators, which will now only have to submit a one-off simplified declaration, making it easier for businesses to comply with the law without compromising on its objectives.
It was also agreed that by 30 April 2026, the Commission must present a report to assess the law’s impact and administrative burden, in particular for micro and small operators.
Printed products not covered
Finally, the co-legislators agreed to exclude printed products from the scope of the regulation, as requested by Parliament.
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After the deal, Parliament’s rapporteur Christine Schneider (EPP, DE) said: “The heart of the EU deforestation regulation remains intact. We are protecting forests that face a real risk of deforestation, while avoiding unnecessary obligations in areas where no such risk exists. This agreement takes the concerns of farmers, foresters and businesses seriously and ensures that the regulation can be implemented in a practical and workable way.”
Next steps
Parliament will vote on the deal during its 15-18 December 2025 plenary session. The text agreed must be endorsed by both Parliament and Council and be published in the EU’s Official Journal before the end of 2025 for the changes to enter into force. Otherwise, the current deadlines will apply.
Background
The regulation being simplified was adopted by Parliament on 19 April 2023. It seeks to fight climate change and biodiversity loss by preventing deforestation linked to EU consumption of cocoa, coffee, palm-oil, soya, wood, rubber and cattle products.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 420 million hectares of forest – an area larger than the EU – were lost to deforestation between 1990 and 2020. EU consumption is responsible for around 10% of global deforestation. Palm oil and soya account for more than two thirds of this.
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