exclusive
A new EU directive is seen as the sharpest sword in the fight against global deforestation. Now international research shows that implementation could fail: due to a lack of staff.
Environmentalists and experts have high hopes for the new EU directive. They have been criticizing for years that the EU is taking insufficient action against the trade in illegal wood and against increasing global deforestation. The previously valid EU Timber Trade Regulation (EUTR) offered too many loopholes, and the penalties formulated there were so low that no company was deterred by it.
“The EU has failed in its goal of stopping the trade in illegal timber,” says Johannes Zahnen from the non-governmental organization WWF. The consequences are dramatic because this leads to deforestation increasing worldwide. “We need forests more urgently than ever during the climate crisis.”
Hopes for a new era disappointed
But these problems should actually soon be a thing of the past. For six months now, a new, much stricter EU directive has been regulating the international timber trade. The regulation to prevent deforestation represents nothing more and nothing less than a turning point in environmental policy: in the future, most European companies that import palm oil, rubber, wood, coffee and other raw materials will have to prove that the products have not contributed to deforestation.
The law also provides for significantly increased penalties for violations, which can amount to up to four percent of a company’s annual turnover. At the same time, EU lawmakers have ensured that the new directive does not just represent a theoretical threat to the black sheep of the industry.
From January 1, 2025, the responsible authorities in the Member States will be obliged to carry out significantly more checks on imports and the companies behind them than before. In fact, the law will mean that ten times as many checks will have to take place in the future as before. And exactly here lies the problem.
In many countries there are too few staff for controls
A team of international media, led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), shows that many member states have so far planned far too few staff to actually implement the directive.
An example: Upon request from NDR, WDR and Süddeutscher Zeitung (SZ), the German Ministry of Agriculture explained that around 250 company inspections have taken place in Germany so far. From next year there will be 2,500 checks, although the number of checks will “probably increase”. So far, 16 people in the responsible authority, the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE), are responsible for controls. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 36 positions will be added in the future.
That is far too little, criticizes Johannes Zahnen. To be able to carry out the necessary controls adequately, Zahnen estimates that at least 160 new positions would be needed. Insiders also believe that significantly more positions than have been approved so far are necessary if the directive is not to come to nothing.
Massive problems foreseeable
Germany is not an isolated case. According to the Belgian environmental authority, a team of ten will carry out the controls in the future – the authority itself had originally stated that it needed 22 new employees. The Netherlands is one of the largest importers of wood products, palm oil and other goods at risk of being linked to deforestation. Only seven people will be responsible for monitoring compliance with the new directive.
In Austria, the Federal Forest Office states that it expects a “multiplication of official control activities”, but so far the authority has not even determined how many positions are necessary for this. And from Romania it is said succinctly that they currently do not have enough staff available to implement the new law. Romania is considered the EU country most affected by illegal logging. The responsible authorities in Italy and Spain left the press inquiries unanswered.
MP calls for more resources
WWF man Zahnen fears that the EUDR, which was actually planned as a major project, could be doomed to failure. Criticism also comes from Brussels. Thomas Waitz sits for the Greens in the European Parliament and has been dealing with the illegal timber trade for years.
In view of the research results, Waitz also calls on the member states to ensure that the new directive can also be implemented in terms of personnel. “What good does it help us if we make great efforts in Europe, in society as a whole, to counteract climate change and the climate crisis? If forests are then cut down on a large scale elsewhere for our consumer goods? Then we have gained absolutely nothing,” said Waitz in an interview with NDR, WDR and SZ. It can also be assumed that future state revenue from penalties will significantly exceed the new personnel costs.
The EU Commission left questions about the research results unanswered, but has so far always pointed out that the member states are responsible for implementing adopted guidelines.
To the project
The #deforestationinc research project was led by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). 140 journalists from all over the world were involved in the nine-month research.
The 39 media outlets involved in the research are in Germany NDR, WDR, “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and “Spiegel”. Internationally, CBC in Canada, ORF in Austria, “Le Monde” and “Radio France” in France and “The Indian Express” in India were among those involved.
The project focuses on the ongoing deforestation worldwide and focuses, among other things, on the questionable trade in sustainability certificates, on the illegal trade in precious wood and on the Romanian timber mafia. All research results are published internationally.