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The European Parliament has voted to postpone the application of the EU’s anti-deforestation rules by a further year, giving companies more time to comply and prompting criticism from environmental groups.

In a plenary vote on Wednesday 26 November, MEPs approved a revision of the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) that moves the main compliance deadline for large operators and traders to 30 December 2026, with micro and small companies required to comply from 30 June 2027. The text passed by 402 votes to 250, with eight abstentions.

The EUDR, adopted in 2023, is intended to ensure that products sold on the EU market are not linked to recent forest clearance. It requires companies to demonstrate that commodities such as coffee, cocoa, soy, palm oil and timber do not come from land deforested after the end of 2020. The law was initially due to apply from December 2024, but member states and Parliament agreed a first, 12-month postponement last year.

This week’s decision adds a second one-year delay after concerns that companies and administrations are not yet ready to operate new geolocation-based traceability tools and the EU-wide IT system for due-diligence statements. Supporters argue that a longer transition will reduce the risk of disruption in supply chains and allow authorities to test the system before it becomes compulsory.

The majority behind the delay was built around the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), backed by conservative and far-right groups and parts of the centrist Renew group. Socialists and Democrats, the Greens/EFA and The Left opposed the move, arguing that pushing back implementation undermines one of the key pieces of the EU’s Green Deal.

Alongside the new timetable, MEPs backed changes to the way due-diligence obligations are shared along the supply chain. Under Parliament’s position, responsibility for filing a due-diligence statement will rest with the operator that first places a covered product on the EU market, relieving downstream traders of the need to submit separate declarations. Micro and small primary operators would be required only to lodge a one-off simplified declaration.

Parliament also called for a simplification review of the law by 30 April 2026, before the main obligations take effect. The review is intended to assess the administrative burden of the EUDR, particularly for smaller firms, and could be followed by further legislative proposals.

Environmental organisations criticised the vote as a step back from commitments made when the law was adopted. Campaign group Fern said the repeated efforts to reopen the regulation showed a weakening of political will to tackle deforestation in EU supply chains. Other non-governmental organisations warned that further delays could penalise early movers and reduce the law’s deterrent effect.

Business associations and producer-country governments have argued for extra time and lighter reporting requirements, saying that the original deadlines and traceability rules risked excluding smallholders from EU markets. The European Commission has pointed to technical challenges with the central IT infrastructure and the need to avoid overloading national authorities as reasons for proposing targeted simplification.

The vote comes less than two weeks after Parliament backed substantial changes to the EU’s corporate sustainability reporting and due-diligence framework, again with a majority led by the EPP and right-wing groups. Both decisions form part of a wider “simplification” drive aimed at reducing compliance costs, and have raised questions about the future direction of the EU’s climate and human-rights policy.

For the deforestation law delay to take effect, Parliament must now negotiate a final text with the Council on the basis of its position and the mandate adopted by member states on 19 November. EU governments have already backed a uniform one-year extension of the application date for all operators, with an additional six-month cushion for micro and small firms. EU institutions aim to conclude talks in time for the amendment to be published in the Official Journal before the end of 2025.

Until the revised regulation formally enters into force, the original application dates of 30 December 2025 for large companies and 30 June 2026 for smaller operators remain in EU law. With both co-legislators now supporting a further deferral, however, implementation of the anti-deforestation regime is expected to shift to late 2026, prolonging uncertainty for companies and producer countries preparing for the new rules.

European Parliament moves to ease corporate sustainability and due-diligence rules

EU set to postpone anti-deforestation law for a second year amid IT concerns