By 405 votes to 242 and with 8 abstentions, Parliament has adopted targeted changes to the EU Deforestation Regulation already informally agreed with EU member states on 4 December 2025.
Postponement for companies
All businesses will have one more year to comply with new EU rules to prevent deforestation. Large operators and traders will have to apply the regulation from 30 December 2026, and small operators – private individuals and enterprises with under 50 employees and an annual turnover related to the products concerned of less than €10 million – 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.
Simplification of due diligence requirements
Micro and small primary operators 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.
Only businesses that are first to place a relevant product on the EU market will be responsible for submitting due diligence statements, and not the operators and traders that subsequently commercialise it.
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.
Finally, printed products are removed from the scope of the regulation, as requested by Parliament.
Quote
After the vote, 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
The text must be endorsed Council and published in the EU’s Official Journal before the end of 2025 for the changes to enter into force.
Background
The original regulation 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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