EU Commission looks to delay EUDR implementation by one more year

The European Commission has notified the Parliament of its intention to delay the implementation of its Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by one more year due to IT challenges.

The notification came today in the form of a letter sent today (September 23) by EU Commission member Jessika Roswall to Member of the European Parliament Antonio Decaro. In the letter, Roswall explains that the Commission has been working with stakeholders on the deployment of the IT system meant to handle all the transactions for products covered by the EUDR, which has led to “a substantial upward reassessment of the projected load on the IT system”.

The Commission is now trying to find measures to ensure that the IT system is robust enough to enable compliance with the EUDR by the time the law comes into force – which is scheduled to happen in December 2025 after a one-year delay granted last year. 

“Despite efforts to address the issues in time for the entry into application of the EUDR, it is not possible to have sufficient guarantees that the IT system will be able to sustain the level of the expected load. In view of this, the Commission is considering a postponement of the entry into application of the EUDR, currently foreseen for 30 December 2025, for one year, in order to avoid uncertainty for authorities and operational difficulties for stakeholders in the EU and third countries, and to allow time to remedy the identified risks,” Roswall writes.

Corporate concerns over EUDR implementation and delay

Preparing the necessary IT infrastructure is the primary reason cited by the European Commission for the new delay, but the letter comes after a number of calls by some forest-dependent companies to give them and their suppliers more time to comply.

In July, Massimiliano Di Domenico, Europe VP of Government Affairs at food company Mondelez International, called for another 12-month delay “to enable practical, inclusive, and effective implementation”, particularly in the cocoa sector.

But not everyone reacted positively to the news that EUDR will most likely be delayed again. “What does this mean for all the sectors and businesses that have spent [millions of dollars] implementing the legislation?” asked Richard Gardiner, Interim Head of EU Policy at ShareAction.

Will Schreiber, a director at sustainability consultancy 3Keel and head of the Retail Soy Group, which recently called for Brazil’s Soy Moratorium to be maintained, called the delay “an unwelcome step in the drive to eradicate deforestation from our global food system”. 

“Responsible companies have invested, yet again, in meeting the requirements and have proven the law is achievable as is, despite improvements that would of course make it better and more efficient for downstream and smaller businesses to deliver. Shifting goal posts does little to deliver on the urgency needed to send the right signals to those deciding whether cutting down a forest is worth it."

‘Incompetence and lack of political will’

Antonie Fountain, Co-Founder of the Voice of Organisations in Coffee Alliance (VOCAL), expressed his anger at the Commission for a “deeply disappointing” delay. “If I were a company that's just spent millions to become compliant, I would be looking into ways to sue Roswall and Von der Leyen,” he added.

Meanwhile, Anke Schulmeister-Oldenhove, Forest Policy Manager at the WWF European Policy Office, commented: “It is probably no coincidence that this move comes right as the Commission pursues an unprecedented deregulation agenda, throwing the EUDR under the bus. This is unacceptable and a massive embarrassment for President Von der Leyen and her Commission. If this technical issue is real, this shows not only incompetence, but also a clear lack of political will to invest sufficiently in a timely implementation of the EUDR.”