The original plan was only to postpone the point in time from which the rules of the already passed EU law come into effect by twelve months. However, the European People’s Party (EPP) submitted further amendments a few days before the vote, some of which also passed Parliament today.
Accordingly, the EU Commission should now be able to identify countries or regions in which there is no risk of deforestation. Products from these areas would then be largely exempt from the rules of the regulation. One motion from the EPP was rejected, and the conservative group withdrew others shortly before the vote. These would have exempted retailers from the rules and extended the postponement to 24 months. There was initially no official explanation as to why the EPP withdrew these motions.
Protest clothes
The changes were approved primarily with the votes of the EPP and the factions further to the right – sometimes amid outraged shouts of protest from the left half of the plenary hall. Since not only the application deadlines were changed, but also substantive changes were voted for, negotiations are now necessary between the EU Parliament, the EU Commission and the Council of the EU Member States.
The Commission’s proposal – which the EU states have already agreed to – only envisaged a postponement without changing the content of the law (which is already formally in force; note). Theoretically, the EU Commission could also withdraw its proposal – but then there would be no postponement and the rules of the regulation could come into effect for the companies affected as early as the end of the year.
