{"id":47294,"date":"2024-11-07T15:24:36","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T14:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/?p=47294"},"modified":"2024-11-07T15:24:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T14:24:39","slug":"epp-fiddles-while-forests-burn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/issues\/climate-energy\/47294\/epp-fiddles-while-forests-burn\/","title":{"rendered":"EPP fiddles while forests burn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Brussels, 7 November 2024<\/strong> \u2013 The European People\u2019s Party (EPP) has proposed a set of amendments<\/a>, published by Politico<\/a>, to the EU deforestation regulation (EUDR) that would, if adopted by MEPs in a plenary vote next Thursday 14 November, severely weaken the law, nullify the preparations that have been made until now for the law\u2019s application, and create chaos and uncertainty, says Greenpeace. <\/p>\n\n

The EU deforestation regulation (EUDR) is a pioneering law that guarantees consumers in Europe that products made out of commodities like soy, beef, wood and palm oil on their supermarket shelves are free from deforestation.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace EU forest policy director S\u00e9bastien Risso <\/strong>said: \u201cAll this week, we\u2019ve heard EPP MEPs tell commissioner candidates that they want to simplify environmental rules. But the changes to the EU deforestation law proposed on behalf of their group won\u2019t simplify anything: they\u2019ll only create confusion, chaos and forest destruction. The frontrunner companies that have been preparing for this law since its adoption must be furious at this last-minute fiasco, which is entirely of the EPP\u2019s making. MEPs must reject all these amendments, whose clear aim is to weaken and make a mess of the deforestation law. They must also reject the Commission\u2019s initial proposal to delay the application of the law, which needlessly opened the door to this meddling in the first place. We cannot afford delay in protecting forests in the light of the climate emergency we\u2019re facing.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n

The EUDR was adopted in 2022 and is meant to start to apply from 30 December this year. Some companies<\/a> have already invested in complying with the law, while other national and corporate vested interests have vigorously lobbied to weaken and delay it. <\/p>\n\n

On 2 October 2024, the European Commission proposed<\/a> a delay in the application of the EUDR by one year. In its announcement, the Commission emphasised that the delay \u201cin no way puts into question the substance or objectives of the law<\/em>\u201d, but the EPP\u2019s proposed amendments do exactly that. <\/p>\n\n

No other party in the European Parliament has proposed any amendments to the Commission\u2019s proposal, which the EPP\u2019s party colleague Commission president Ursula von der Leyen presented herself. <\/p>\n\n

Making a mess <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The EPP\u2019s amendments:<\/p>\n\n