EUDR Update: EU Parliament Approves Urgency Procedure, Vote on Proposal Scheduled for Upcoming Plenary Session

On November 13th, EU Parliament approved the urgency procedure for the EU Deforestation Regulation, bypassing the typical committee review process so that the Commission's simplification proposal can be voted on during the next plenary session. In the meantime, political parties are still allowed to submit amendments to the current proposal.

Plenary Vote Scheduled for Next Week

Parliament will vote on the content of the Commission's proposal during the plenary session scheduled for November 24-27.

Discussions in the Council

Last week the Danish Presidency put forward a compromise proposal to the Member States that notably proposed no changes to the Commission's simplification proposal but added an additional 12 month delay to the enforcement deadline. This compromise proposal failed to reach a majority in the Council, with only 12 Member States voting in favor of the text. Several Member States - including Austria and Sweden - rejected this proposal on the grounds that the EUDR should be further simplified, while France accepted the compromise but vocally opposed any further modification to the text. As a next step, the Danish Presidency will propose another compromise and reconvene the Member States for a vote.

Trilogues Must Conclude Before December 15

Trilogue negotiations must conclude before December 15th in order for a final vote to take place during the December 15-18 plenary session. This is the final plenary session during which Parliament can endorse the trilogue agreement before the Regulation would automatically go into effect under its existing adopted text on December 30th.