In 2019, the European Commission recognized the EU’s responsibility for around 10% of the global share of deforestation, highlighting the need for urgent and comprehensive regulation. In that document, the Commission first outlined its intention to address the EU’s impact on deforestation, citing its significant climate and biodiversity-related implications. The EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR), which entered into force in June 2023, aims to regulate key commodities linked to deforestation, specifically cattle, wood, cocoa, soy, palm oil, coffee, and rubber. Commodities that fall under the scope of the regulation must be demonstrably deforestation-free along their supply chain.
As of October 2025, the Commission has announced plans to delay the regulation for a second time, pushing its intended application date back a further year to December 2026, citing IT issues. Because of its scope, the EUDR will have substantial implications for European businesses, especially from the consumer staples, paper & forest product, and automotive sectors. Reflecting this, companies and industry associations from these sectors have engaged actively on the EUDR, with industry associations taking more negative positions than companies.
Ahead of the regulation’s first intended application date in December 2024, industry associations ramped up calls for its postponement. Copa-Cogeca and the Confederation of European Paper Industries (Cepi)—among the most vocal advocates—issued multiple joint statements to policymakers, such as those in March and September 2024. In these, the entities state broad support for the regulation but call for a delay in implementation, arguing that the set timeline “is simply not feasible” due to risks for supply chain security and “adverse economic outcomes.”
However, in a joint letter, companies including IKEA and H&M countered arguments around negative economic outcomes and cited the EUDR as an example of how strong EU environmental policies can “provide immense added value for businesses” and support competitiveness. European consumer staples companies including Nestlé and Mondelez International also opposed calls for the regulation’s delay and later for its reopening.
Ultimately, the EU delayed the regulation by 12 months, a move that was applauded by associations including EuroCommerce, Cepi, and Copa-Cogeca and companies including BMW.
InfluenceMap often finds this divergence between industry associations' positions on climate and nature-related policy and individual company engagement, in which industry associations take more negative positions. Copa-Cogeca and the European Livestock and Meat Trades Union (UECBV), among those pushing to delay the EUDR, also advocated to weaken EU policies to transition to sustainable diets and reduce GHG livestock emissions—a campaign InfluenceMap uncovered in a May 2024 report.
In April 2025, following the first postponement, the European Commission announced simplifications to the EUDR. In response, EU consumer staples companies continued to drive positive advocacy: Danone and Nestlé, among others, released a joint statement urging the Commission to maintain its ambition and timeline and opposing proposals to reopen the policy. As part of the simplification process, the Commission launched a public consultation on a delegated act to clarify the scope of the EUDR. Automotive entities, including Mercedes and BMW, as well as the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), responded calling for a variety of exemptions that would reduce the policy’s effectiveness. The American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), which has advocated negatively on the EUDR since 2024, called for a complete exemption for US-based entities.
Reactions to the proposed further delay of the EUDR have been mixed. EU consumer staples companies including Nestlé and Mars published a statement calling for the European Commission to “avoid using IT issues as grounds to reopen, delay, or change the EUDR.” Others, such as the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) and Copa-Cogeca, commended the delay and called for further changes that suggest support for reopening the regulation.
There is a risk that negative advocacy will sway the Commission to reopen the regulation, amid a wave of environmental rollbacks. As InfluenceMap often finds, incumbent industries will employ strategic campaigns using misleading narratives to disrupt climate progress—a pattern evident in the fossil fuel and meat and dairy industries. Current arguments that suggest the EUDR and other green policies threaten "competitiveness" and must be “simplified” appear to be part of a new set of narratives that negative corporate actors are using to undermine progress.
Further delaying or reopening the regulation could create uncertainty for businesses planning for its implementation and jeopardize key elements of its scope, including commodities and country risk categories. Beyond this, scientific guidance is clear on the role of deforestation in the climate and biodiversity loss crises and the need for immediate action to address it. InfluenceMap will continue to monitor key developments concerning the EUDR on our website and via our weekly LobbyMap alerts email.