The rules, which should have entered into force by December this year, require companies to demonstrate that products sold in the EU – including cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, rubber, livestock, and timber – did not contribute to deforestation
A majority of MEPs voted in favour of the amendments put forward by centre-right lead negotiator Christine Schneider (Germany), which seek to delay the rules’ implementation for all companies by one year and mandate the Commission to carry out an assessment of the rules’ impact on businesses by April 2026. This could include legislative changes if needed.
The changes were backed by the so-called Venezuela majority, including the far-right groups Patriots for Europe and European Conservatives and Reformists.
Socialists and the Renew group attempted to reach an agreement with the centre-right EPP that did not go as far as the Commission’s mandate, but negotiations collapsed on Tuesday evening, parliamentary staffers told Euractiv...
Major food companies, including Ferrero and Nestlé, had pushed to keep the implementation timeline as originally planned and warned against reopening the legislation next year due to the uncertainty it could create.
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