1.1 The problem the Regulation sets out to tackle
The European Commission starts from one observation: deforestation and forest degradation are among the main drivers of the two greatest environmental crises of our time — climate change and biodiversity loss (FAQ 4.1). The main global cause of that deforestation is the expansion of agricultural land to produce soy, cattle, palm oil, wood, cocoa, rubber and coffee.
As a large economy and a large consumer of those commodities, the European Union recognises that it contributes to deforestation in other parts of the world and therefore takes on the responsibility of reducing that contribution (FAQ 4.1). The instrument it has chosen is neither a tariff nor an agreement with producing countries: it is a market access rule that applies equally to goods produced inside and outside the EU (FAQ 2.4).
1.2 Stated objectives
Article 1 sets out two objectives:
- (a) to minimise the Union's contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide, thereby helping to reduce global deforestation;
- (b) to reduce the Union's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and to biodiversity loss worldwide.
The Commission's simplification review report (COM(2026) 191, of 04/05/2026) estimates that, even with the simplifications adopted, the EUDR will avoid around 208 thousand hectares of deforestation and 49 million tonnes of emissions per year, with environmental benefits of the order of 7 billion euros a year.
1.3 Where it comes from: the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR)
The EUDR replaces Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, known as the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which since 2013 had prohibited the placing of illegally harvested timber on the European market. The EUDR widens that logic in three directions:
- from one commodity (timber) to seven;
- from one criterion (legality) to two substantive criteria — legality and freedom from deforestation — plus one formal criterion (the declaration);
- from an essentially documentary obligation to an obligation of geolocated traceability down to the plot of production.
The EUTR is repealed with effect from 30/12/2026, but it continues to apply until 31/12/2029 to timber and timber products produced before 29/06/2023 and placed on the market from 30/12/2026 (Article 37). FLEGT, the bilateral licensing scheme for legal timber, is preserved: products covered by a valid FLEGT licence are considered to comply with the legality requirement (Article 10(3)).