The EU's new rules to prevent the destruction of rainforests on other continents have been praised by the environmental movement. But now the entire implementation may be delayed due to heavy protests, not least from the EU Parliament's large conservative party group, EPP.
"Farmers, retailers, large and small businesses, and member states' governments are deeply concerned about the jungle of rules that will be introduced in several production areas," it says in a statement from EPP's spokespersons in the Parliament's Agriculture and Environment Committee, reports the news site EU Observer.
The so-called EUDR rules are set to come into full effect from the end of December and require that products imported to the EU must not have been grown on land that may have been subject to deforestation since the end of 2020.
Primarily Brazil, but also other producing countries, have long protested against what they consider to be unfair and administratively heavy consequences.