For the second time, EU countries postpone anti-deforestation law by 1 year and make rules more flexible

Deforestation in the Amazon. Ibama European countries supported a new relaxation of the European Union law against deforestation, including a postponement until the end of 2026, diplomats told AFP this Wednesday (19). At the request of Germany and Austria, which are countries critical of the text, the Europeans also validated a review clause in April 2026, to address this law before its entry into force. The text, considered a pioneer by environmental organizations, seeks to prohibit the sale in Europe of products grown on land that has been deforested since 2020, such as palm oil, cocoa, coffee, soy and wood. But the document continues to be criticized by sectors of the agroindustry and countries, such as Brazil and the United States. The European Union had already postponed it for the first time from 2024 to 2025, before the new deadline reached this Wednesday. See the videos that are trending on g1 The European Commission paved the way for this additional postponement by citing computer problems to implement the product traceability system. But, after mentioning a deadline of one year, Brussels ended up proposing to the 27 members to postpone the law for six months. European countries decided to go further, especially under the impetus of Germany. The commitment, which will still have to be submitted to the European Parliament, seeks to come into force at the end of 2026. But the many doubts surrounding this law have caused the fury of NGOs, who end up asking themselves whether the European Union really intends to apply it. “The signs are disastrous from all points of view, in the middle of COP, the UN climate conference in Brazil”, laments Pierre-Jean Sol Brasier, from the NGO Fern, a specialist in forest protection. This regulation against deforestation received the support of some European companies, such as the Italian group Ferrero, which produces, among other things, Nutella. “We made investments in good faith because we thought there was a direction and now that is being questioned,” said Francesco Tramontin, one of the company’s executives. After adopting ambitious measures for several years, the European Union slowed down some climate provisions to give a breather to companies subject to fierce competition. Read also: Livestock that preserves, cocoa that reforests: how climate money reaches the countryside How much does it cost to contain global warming and who supports sustainability in the countryside Climate finance: who supports sustainable agriculture

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