- Commission President Ursula von der Leyen concedes the EUDR has alienated trading partners
- Germany’s Green Agriculture Minister has thrown his support behind a delay as NGOs push for keeping the same deadline
- The question is whether her own party’s push for a two-year delay will remain in tact
Does Von Der Leyen Equal EUDR De-Layin?
The re-election of Ursula Von der Leyen for another term of Commission President does not clearly answer the question of whether the EUDR will be delayed. Her Political Guidelines document and acceptance speech does give some indication of where things might head. She states:
“We also need to listen and respond better to the concerns of our partners impacted by European legislation, in particular those linked to the European Green Deal.
“We need a more systematic approach to assessing the impact of our laws on non-EU countries, and we need to provide more targeted support to help them adjust to and benefit from those laws.”
This speaks criticism of the EU on how it has handled its relationship with trading partners on the EUDR (particularly Indonesia and the US) and how it is currently handling its implementation.
However, it is also worth noting that she has said the EU “must and will stay the course on the goals set out in the European Green Deal.”
She makes another point worth noting:
“Each Commissioner will be tasked with focusing on reducing administrative burdens and simplifying implementation: less red tape and reporting, more trust, better enforcement, faster permitting. They will hold regular dialogues on implementation with stakeholders to discuss how best to align implementation with realities on the ground.”
This speaks to the many criticisms that EU stakeholders have made around the EUDR – and numerous other pieces regulation that have been mounting for businesses within the EU.
So, does this mean a delay? Possibly.
Her party, the European Peoples’ Party (EPP) had proposed a two-year delay as part of its parliamentary agenda. The question is what has been negotiated among the EPP’s parliamentary partners in order to get VDL over the line.
German Greens Support a Delay Also
As we reported last week, the Agriculture Council was generally supportive of a delay as led by Austria, with support from other states.
One of those ministers is German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir. It’s worth noting Özdemir is part of the Greens in Germany and the party’s former co-chair. He said outside the meeting:
“The Commission is once again called upon to implement this in a way that is suitable for reality. To date, it has not done its homework. The conditions for a practical application are still not in place. There is still no country benchmarking.
“I want to make this very clear here. Our economy, our companies are being confronted with a completely unreasonable effort. This ruins the purpose [and] raises doubt about the understanding of the issue of deforestation-free supply chains.
The Commission must now ensure as quickly as possible that this regulation becomes applicable. I ask the Commission once again to decide very quickly on a postponement so that we can ensure it works in the remaining time.”
In other words, there isn’t an anti-regulatory agenda in place here, just pragmatism: the current state of the EUDR is a shambles.
A key worry of many in Germany and Austria in the forest sector is that the benchmarking process is not yet complete (and has barely started), and that it will put everyone on the ‘standard risk’ footing from day one.
They are of the opinion that they shouldn’t be treated the same as countries with high levels of deforestation and therefore be subject to the same compliance checks.
Elsewhere, the concerns remain the same, e.g. compliance requirements pushing up the cost of feed.
There are two complicating factors here.
First is that the methodology for the benchmarking to determine risk levels for both crops and countries is going to be extremely complicated, and a potentially a disaster for trade relationships.
Second is that the methodology needs to be watertight. If it isn’t, it will result in a challenge to the regulation at the WTO – which could potentially mean everyone must sit on the same risk level. This would be an internal political nightmare.
NGOs fight back
The German minister’s comments are at odds with the messaging coming out of many European NGOs right now, who are arguing that the regulation must be implemented by the end of the year according to its timetable – or disaster will ensue.
Clearly this isn’t true. The EUDR will go ahead at some point, whether now or at the end of 2027 as the European Peoples’ Party has proposed. NGOs are concerned about is the risks a review will bring.
From their perspective, the regulation is perfect and should remain untouched. But even if the regulation is perfect, its implementation processes are riddled with flaws; and those outside of the NGO and political spheres, i.e. those at the coalface, are acutely aware of them. And that is precisely what is behind the delay. There is no push from EU stakeholders to overturn the EUDR altogether – just a push to make sure it actually works.