UPDATE – Standing Forestry Committee and Forest Monitoring Law Voting

Today, 21st October 2025, the developments in EU forest policy have followed each other up at rapid pace.

In the morning with the Commission announcement by Commissioner Roswall of DG ENV that the entry into application of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will be finally entering into force on January 2026 for large operators with a grace period of 6 months and additionally it will be postponed by one year for a second time to micro and small operators that will only have to submit a due diligence declaration rather than the statement. Furthermore, it will be putting the due diligence burden only in the primary producers allowing the rest of the value chain to only keep the reference number. Ms. Roswall cites this will allow addressing the technical difficulties with the IT system TRACES and also allow those who are ready to begin complying.

Forest Monitoring Law Vote

The plenary session saw the vote on the Forest Monitoring Law take place. In the week leading up to this vote S&D had tabled the same package of amendments as for the Committee vote, which Renew did not undersign. MEPs Stefanuta & Holmgren from The Greens tabled 6 additional amendments emphasising the need for a European monitoring system. However, this was to no success as the proposal was rejected with a majority of 370 to 264 votes.

Directly after the vote, the present representative Commissioner Kos (Enlargement)  stated that the Commission would analyse the vote. However, a few hours later the Commission published the 2026 Work Programme in which it specifically mentions withdrawal of the Forest Monitoring file (See annex 4). With this scheduled withdrawal, the file comes to a definitive ending for the time being.

All relevant documents on the FML process can be accessed HERE

Standing Forestry Committee Amendment Vote

On the same plenary, the SFC report put forward by the joint Committee ENVI-AGRI was adopted by the Parliament in Strasbourg, giving therefore the final negotiation position by the parliament. The council had already adopted their general approach so now trilogue negotiations can start.

However, the EC is yet now to see if, like the Monitoring law, it will finally execute their threat of withdrawing if the Parliament’s Report differs from their original proposal. Tee recent work  program published by the Commission agenda shows already the proposal for withdrawal alongside the Forest Monitoring Law (see annex).

The text emphasises in Article 2, the role to be played by the Committee in advising the Commission which will no longer be limited to the preparation of Union policy initiatives relevant to forests and forestry, but also to their implementation, whether they are legislative initiatives are non non-legislative initiatives. Additionally, the text highlights the importance on consistency and synergies, eliminate existing inconsistencies between Union policies, examine their cumulative impact and assess their compatibility with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.

Finally, in Article 3, they clarified that the expert group should consist of Member State representatives. Member States are encouraged to designate national experts and facilitate their participation.

Overall, the position is set to strengthen the Standing forestry committee and lays out a clear basis for Commission and the MS and forestry sector relations to ensure all the policies impacting in the Forest and forestry sector are first discussed and consulted.

All relevant documents on the process can be accessed HERE