Postponement and simplification of the EU deforestation law

The EU Parliament has spoken out in favor of a targeted simplification of the EU deforestation law and a postponement of the start of application by a further twelve months. A first one-year postponement had already been decided at the end of 2024 due to strong opposition. The regulations will now come into force for large and medium-sized companies from December 30, 2026, and for small and micro companies from June 30, 2027. The deforestation regulation aims to ensure that products sold in the EU such as cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy, wood, rubber, charcoal, printed paper and beef do not come from deforested areas in order to contribute to climate and biodiversity protection. The new transition periods and practical simplifications are intended to make implementation more feasible for companies, non-EU states and member states. Among other things, this also includes strengthening the IT system for electronic due diligence declarations and lower obligations for micro and small businesses from low-risk countries or for companies that only sell the products in question after they have been introduced on the EU market. Attention: The voting results shown on the right only reflect the voting behavior of the 96 German MEPs and not that of all 720 MEPs. Overall, the simplification proposals were approved with 402 votes in favour, 250 against and eight abstentions. Of the German MEPs, 56 voted for and 34 against. There were no abstentions.

Vote breakdown