Council, Parliament Postpone EU Deforestation Regulation

In late October, the European Commission (“Commission”) shared a Proposal simplifying certain reporting obligations and reducing some unnecessary administrative burden of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (“EUDR”) with the hope of seeing those changes adopted by the entry into force of the Regulation, scheduled for 30 December 2025 (see our previous alert here). The Commission’s Proposal included notably targeted simplifications to reduce obligations for downstream operators and traders commercialising covered products once they have been placed on the EU market, and for micro and small primary operators from low-risk countries selling their goods directly on the EU market. The Commission also proposed a transitional period to enable to strengthen its IT system.

The Commission’s Proposal needs approval from the two co-legislators, the European Parliament (“Parliament”) and the Council of the European Union (“Council”), before it can become law.

On 19 November 2025, the Council shared its negotiating position (here). The Council made several amendments to the Commission’s Proposal, the most notable being a postponement of the entry into force of the EUDR to 30 December 2026 for medium and large operators and 30 June 2027 for micro and small operators. This is the second one-year postponement of the EUDR, which was initially set to take effect on 30 December 2024. This decision was unexpected, as several Member States, including France and Spain, had openly opposed delaying the EUDR following the Commission’s Proposal.

Apart from this, the Council overall supported the simplification proposal launched by the Commission, like the Parliament, and proposed the following measures as well:

• Only the first downstream operators have to collect, keep, and pass on the reference number of the initial due diligence statement. This obligation should not apply to all further downstream operators as proposed by the Commission.

• The definition of micro and small primary operators should also include operators who exceed the limit thresholds but who can demonstrate that the parts of their balance sheet total, net turnover and average number of employees during the financial year which relate to their activities covered by the EUDR, do not exceed the limits of at least two of the three applicable thresholds.

• Micro and small primary operators do not need to keep due diligence records for five years and they may place relevant products on the market or export them even though they are unable to submit due diligence statements.  The Council sees this as the consequence of the Commission’s proposed removal of the need for micro and small primary operators to submit due diligence statements (replacing them with a one-time simplified declaration).

• The Council specified that the obligation to possess the required information for downstream operators and traders applies also when they export or place on the market the relevant products, and not only when they make relevant products available on the market, as proposed by the Commission.

• The Council removed the obligation to supply the reference number of the due diligence statement or the declaration identifier for micro and small primary operators when the export of the relevant product is done by a downstream operator.

• Ahead of the general review of the Regulation scheduled to be carried out by 30 June 2030, the Commission must carry out by 30 April 2026 a simplification review evaluating the impact and administrative burden of the EUDR, with a view to potentially adopting simplification measures.

On 13 November, the Parliament agreed to vote on the Commission’s Proposal using the urgency procedure.  On 26 November, the Parliament adopted its position at first reading, which largely supported the Council’s position, including the one-year postponement of the entry into force of the EUDR.

Now that the Parliament has voted on the Commission’s Proposal as well, the trilogue between the institutions will begin, aiming to reach an agreement by mid-December, before the EUDR becomes applicable on 30 December 2025. However, as both the Parliament and the Council have agreed to postpone the EUDR, no lengthy interinstitutional negotiations are expected, and the amendments should enter into force before 30 December 2025, the originally planned (but already one-year delayed) start date of the EUDR.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with Cassidy Levy Kent’s sanctions and export controls team in Brussels, Yves Melin – Cassidy Levy Kent, Isabel Fressynet – Cassidy Levy Kent, Anna E. Golouchko – Cassidy Levy Kent or your usual contact in any of Cassidy Levy Kent’s offices, with any questions.