EU lawmakers in talks to further weaken deforestation law, document shows

By Kate Abnett and Maytaal Angel

Centre-right lawmakers in the European Parliament have made proposals to further weaken the European Union's beleaguered law to ban commodity imports linked to deforestation, a document seen by Reuters showed.

In its current form, the landmark law would from Dec. 30 require companies importing soy, beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, timber, rubber and related products to prove their supply chains did not contribute to the destruction of the world's forests, or face hefty fines. Companies exporting commodities from Europe would face the same obligations.

Brussels announced plans last month to delay the law's implementation by a year, until Dec. 2025, after intense opposition from trade partners including the U.S., Brazil and Malaysia.

EU lawmakers - who, alongside EU member countries, are in the process of approving the delay - now also want to weaken parts of the law.

A document seen by Reuters showed lawmakers from the centre-right European People's Party have proposed postponing the law by a full two years, and exempting from its obligations certain countries the EU deems to have an insignificant risk of deforestation.

Sources familiar with the discussions said this would likely exempt exporters based in EU countries from the law's obligations - a move that could further rile foreign countries that have slammed the EU policy as protectionist.

EPP is the biggest group in the EU Parliament, and any proposals it makes to weaken green policies are likely to win support from hard-right and far-right lawmakers .

EU lawmakers had been expected to quickly approve a delay to the law. But the push to make extra changes raises the prospect of more complex negotiations that may not be resolved before the end of this year - when, unless the delay is formally approved in the coming weeks, the law would immediately take effect.

An EPP spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The EU deforestation policy law had been hailed as a landmark in the fight against climate change. The destruction of forests is a major cause of CO2 emissions, because it releases much of the planet-heating carbon stored by trees.