{"id":28884,"date":"2025-09-24T10:35:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T00:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=28884"},"modified":"2025-09-24T10:35:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T00:35:47","slug":"eu-pushes-for-one-year-eudr-delay-over-it-system-failures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/eu-pushes-for-one-year-eudr-delay-over-it-system-failures\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Pushes for One-Year EUDR Delay Over IT System Failures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The European Commission has moved to delay the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by at least a further 12 months, resetting the compliance deadline to 30 December 2026. In a letter to European Parliament Environment Committee chair Antonio Decaro and the Danish Council Presidency, Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall warned that \u201cconcerns over the functionality of the EUDR\u2019s compliance-data platform \u2026 create uncertainty for authorities and operational difficulties for stakeholders.\u201d She added that an additional year is essential \u201cto resolve glitches and give businesses more time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adopted in mid-2023, the EUDR obliges importers of palm oil, coffee, cocoa, cattle, timber and rubber to verify at every stage\u2014\u201cfrom forest to final product\u201d\u2014that their commodities are free of deforestation links. Brussels initially deferred the regulation\u2019s start from December 2024 to December 2025 in response to industry feedback and technical reviews. However, persistent stress-test failures in the IT infrastructure have prompted this second postponement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At an overnight press briefing, Commissioner Roswall stated that the Commission will engage closely with both Parliament and the Council before formalising the new timeline, signalling a willingness to simplify the EUDR, which could see reduced paperwork and streamlined procedures accompanying the rollout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tree
Log trunks at the Logpond Timbers Rimbunan PNG port in Garim, Madang, underscore the massive tropical timber flows\u2014from Papua New Guinea and beyond\u2014that the EU\u2019s delayed Deforestation Regulation must ultimately regulate to ensure deforestation-free imports. (Photo Credit: Fredrich Stark \/ Alamy Stock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Christine Schneider (CDU), lead negotiator for the European People\u2019s Party on the EUDR, described the extra time as \u201ca rare opportunity to build a truly workable system.\u201d Schneider intends to reintroduce her \u201czero-risk\u201d exemption, which would relieve countries with robust forestry safeguards\u2014including several EU member states\u2014from most requirements. And whilst the Parliament endorsed the proposal last autumn, it was later blocked by the Commission and the Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, industry groups warn that another year of uncertainty will not resolve the regulation\u2019s core challenges. Small and medium-sized enterprises account for roughly 70 per cent of the EU timber sector, according to the European Timber Trade Federation, and many have already invested millions in compliance teams, supply chain audits, and IT integration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany businesses have built entire systems to track legal origin and deforestation risk,\u201d said Elena Petrova, the Federation\u2019s policy director. \u201cAn extra year of waiting is no substitute for clear, workable rules.\u201d She added that repeated delays erode confidence in Brussels\u2019 regulatory process and penalise early adopters while non-compliant operators continue trading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austria\u2019s timber industry echoed these frustrations. Dr Erlfried Taurer, chairman of the Austrian Wood Industry Association, told Wood Central, \u201cReason has finally prevailed in Brussels\u2014the Commission acknowledges that its own regulation is unworkable. After more than two years of intensive effort, there is still no practical implementation model.\u201d Taurer urged lawmakers to use the delay to tackle \u201cfundamental issues\u201d and pursue \u201cdeep simplification\u2014or, better yet, full repeal\u2014of the EUDR\u2019s most burdensome provisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sawmill
Earlier this month, one of the world\u2019s largest producers of large-sized cross-laminated timber panels, Austria, warned that the EUDR could see a 10% reduction in timber volumes<\/a> from mills across the country. (Photo Credit: aerial-photos.com via Alamy Stock Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Taurer proposed carving out an \u201cinsignificant-risk\u201d category for countries like Austria, where deforestation is virtually non-existent, allowing existing EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) documentation to suffice. He also called for risk-based controls\u2014such as satellite monitoring and targeted on-site checks\u2014rather than blanket due diligence mandates. \u201cDeforestation doesn\u2019t occur in Europe, yet our companies are expected to prove their supply chains are deforestation-free,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, ENGOs have condemned the delay, arguing that it is politically motivated and costly. According to Anke Schulmeister-Oldenhove, Forest Policy Manager at WWF\u2019s European Policy Office<\/a>, the postponement is \u201ca surprising and embarrassing move\u201d that comes \u201cafter more than two years of preparation time.\u201d She accused the Commission of caving to \u201can unprecedented deregulation agenda, throwing the EUDR under the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is probably no coincidence that this move comes right as the Commission pursues deregulation,\u201d Schulmeister-Oldenhove said. \u201cThis is unacceptable and a massive embarrassment for President Von der Leyen. If this technical issue is real, it shows not only incompetence but also a clear lack of political will to invest sufficiently in a timely implementation of the EUDR.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite today\u2019s proposal, the Commission stressed that its newly finalised EU-Indonesia trade agreement will not shield Jakarta\u2019s palm-oil exporters from future EUDR obligations. In a technical briefing on Tuesday, officials reiterated that \u201cnon-compliance will block market access, regardless of trade deals,\u201d underlining Brussels\u2019 resolve to leverage trade policy in the fight against deforestation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some timber suppliers welcomed the reprieve as vital preparation time. \u201cWe can finalise integration testing and comprehensive staff training,\u201d said Marco Leone, CEO of Alpine Wood Products. \u201cA sudden switch in December 2025 could have caused chaos in shipments and penalties for honest operators.\u201d Whilst others remain critical of the regulation’s core design. Sophie M\u00fcller, head of sustainability at Nordic Timber Group, argued the EUDR \u201ccreates a presumption of guilt\u201d by placing the full burden of proof on importers. \u201cWe need fact-driven risk assessments and proportionate enforcement, not a one-size-fits-all bureaucracy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal will now be taken to the European Parliament and Council, who both must approve the delay before it becomes law. MEPs will debate amendments\u2014Schneider\u2019s \u201czero-risk\u201d exemption, streamlined reporting for EU-sourced timber and enhanced data-interoperability standards\u2014during the March 2026 plenary, before the Council is expected to vote at its April 2026 meeting of ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The European Commission has moved to delay the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by at least a further 12 months, resetting the compliance deadline to 30 December 2026. In a letter to European Parliament Environment Committee chair Antonio Decaro and the Danish Council Presidency, Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall warned that \u201cconcerns over the functionality of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[53,2,32,46,45,44,31],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":{"0":"post-28884","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-europe","8":"category-featured","9":"category-global-news","10":"category-industry","11":"category-sustainability","12":"category-sustainable-forest-management","13":"category-top-stories"},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jason","display_name":"Jason Ross","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28884"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28892,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28884\/revisions\/28892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28884"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=28884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}