Federal government inaction on the EUDR must end

"It is completely incomprehensible and unacceptable that Germany is not supporting a joint initiative by 18 EU Member States to revise the EU Regulation on Deforestation (EUDR). While a clear majority of member states are in favour of a fundamental revision of a law that does not work, the German government is once again being left out of the loop. The fact that Germany is not supporting this initiative is a fatal signal to both businesses and European partners. A bureaucratically overloaded law such as the EUDR, which cannot be applied in practice, must be revised. The German government's refusal to do such a revision is incomprehensible and politically short-sighted.

In its current form, the regulation overburdens small and medium-sized enterprises in particular with requirements that are almost impossible to fulfil. The benefits for environmental or forest protection are unclear. The complexity and bureaucracy of the law are disproportionate to the intended objective. At the same time, the European Parliament has also voted against the benchmarking of production countries presented by the European Commission, another clear political signal in the same direction.

When a majority of Member States and now also the European Parliament are in favour of improvements, Germany cannot afford to stand on the brakes. The so-called “German Vote” - the German abstention on important European decisions - must not become the rule. Germany must finally play a constructive role in shaping Brussels instead of looking the other way. The federal government must finally abandon its inaction on the EUDR, take a clear stand on the side of businesses and actively advocate a practical, realistic design of the EUDR."