Last week, the Commission proposed to postpone the application of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by a year and signalled that it intends to “step up dialogue” with partner countries.
The EU has already started partnership discussions with Indonesia and Malaysia. The third meeting of the Joint EU-Indonesia-Malaysia Task Force on EUDR implementation took place mid-September 2024.
However, the lack of inclusive participation and political will from all Parties and strong siloes within the EU hamper meaningful partnership.
This civil society joint statement calls on the future College of the Commission to join-up thinking within the Commission and make a more compelling offer of partnership to Indonesia and Malaysia.
The EUDR could be a gamechanger that increases transparency, supports smallholders and improves forest governance, but only if it is implemented collaboratively and with sufficient and well targeted technical and financial support from the EU.
Read the civil society joint statement