“The European Commission absolutely must postpone the entry into force of the deforestation regulation and then use the transitional period to reduce bureaucracy in the text,” demanded Dr. Peter Liese, environmental spokesperson for the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats). The aim of the regulation is to be fully supported, the MEP continued: “We must do something about deforestation worldwide and take our responsibility seriously. It is unacceptable for areas the size of eleven soccer pitches to fall victim to deforestation per minute. However, the regulation has been turned into a bureaucratic monster by a majority of Greens, Social Democrats, Leftists and French Liberals. Many small farmers around the world and even small forest owners in the European Union cannot work with the text. Even the preparatory work that the Commission should have carried out has not been done. In addition, third countries are complaining massively about the legislation, including countries that are pursuing the same goal as we are, namely to stop deforestation. Most recently, in a letter dated May 30, the Biden Administration from the U.S. urged the Commission to postpone the entry into force.”

After many discussions that Liese has had with representatives of the European Commission and representatives of other political groups, he is optimistic that the Commission will propose a postponement and that this will also pass through Parliament quickly. “We can adopt the postponement in the short term making use of the urgent procedure so that all sides have time to breathe and then calmly discuss changes to the text that mean less bureaucracy but still protection against deforestation,” Liese emphasized.

Source: Peter Liese – Commission must postpone deforestation regulation and then fundamentally revise it (peter-liese.de)