The European People’s Party (EPP) has called on the European Commission to postpone the adoption of new legislation on deforestation, which is due to come into force at the end of this year, online publication Agriland reported on July 8.
Peter Liese, a prominent German MEP and EPP spokesman on environmental issues, outlined his position in a speech at a recent conference in Portugal. “The Commission should definitely delay the entry into force of the deforestation regulation and then use the transition period to cut red tape in the text.”“Lise emphasized.
The law is the first of its kind in the world and will effectively ban all imports into the EU of agricultural products that have been grown on recently deforested land. It aims to reduce the impact of deforestation worldwide by introducing barriers to commodities such as cocoa, soya, beef and coffee that cannot demonstrate sustainable production.
Liese reiterated her commitment to reducing the impact of deforestation in the EU, but questioned the bureaucratic nature of the new law: “We must do something about deforestation worldwide and take our responsibility seriously. It is unacceptable that areas the size of eleven football fields are falling victim to deforestation every minute.”.
The proposed deforestation legislation was supported by the Greens, Social Democrats, Leftists and French Liberals, who, according to Liese, created “bureaucratic monster”His comments came after the Biden administration also expressed concerns about the law in a letter in May of this year, calling for a delay in the legislation.
The text of the law is unworkable in its current form and has faced opposition from farmers inside and outside the EU, according to the EPP’s environment spokesman. Liese said he was confident the delay would provide the necessary time to clear bureaucratic delays associated with the law.
Let us recall that the centre-right EPP is currently the largest and oldest political group in the European Parliament, as is the party of Ursula von der Leyen, the commission president. The party won 188 seats in last month’s European Parliament elections.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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