Huge majority in European Parliament votes to make EUDR simpler
Members of the European Parliament have voted to simplify the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), but time is tight if the proposed changes are to be come into effect.
In a vote in the parliament in Strasbourg on November 26, representatives from the 27 EU member states voted by 402 to 250 (with eight abstentions) to make it easier for companies to implement the regulation.
Changes include an additional year for companies to prepare for EUDR to come into application. As a result, large operators will now have until December 30, 2026, to prepare. Micro- and small enterprises will have until June 30, 2027.
“This additional time is intended to guarantee a smooth transition and to allow the implementation of measures to strengthen the IT system that operators, traders and their representatives use to make electronic due diligence statements,” the European Parliament said.
Its proposals also include measures to simplify the due diligence requirements that companies will have to meet.
The parliament said the onus on submitting a due diligence statement should fall on the business that first bring relevant products, including bovine hides and leather, into the EU, not on the operators that “subsequently commercialise it”.
For micro and small primary operators, it said they should now only have to submit “a one-off simplified declaration”.
The parliament has requested a simplification review of EUDR by April 30, 2026, to assess the regulation’s impact and administrative burden.
It said it would now “start negotiations” with member states on “the final shape of the law”.
It warned that this will have to happen quickly because if the one-year delay is to enter into force, the new requirements will have to be published in the EU’s official journal before the end of 2025.
