EUDR Update: Simplified due diligence & postponed effective date

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The year is coming to an end and it is finally becoming clear how the EU Regulation on deforestation-free supply chains (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 – EU Deforestation Regulation – hereinafter “EUDR”) will proceed.

The EUDR has been in force since the end of June 2023. It aims to minimize the European contribution to global deforestation and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss. The regulation obliges traders and market participants from various sectors to carefully check and document their supply chains for deforestation-free status. The effective date of the EUDR was postponed by one year to give affected companies the opportunity to prepare for the fulfillment of the extensive obligations arising from the regulation from December 30, 2025.

Developments surrounding the EUDR were already characterized by high dynamics in the first half of the year. The guidelines and FAQs were repeatedly adapted and the increasing criticism from the member states led to ongoing discussions about easing the due diligence obligations for the affected companies.^[1] Due to technical difficulties with the IT system for managing the due diligence statements to be submitted, the EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswell finally announced on September 23, 2025 that she would examine a postponement of the effective date of the EUDR. After the Commission published targeted amendment and action proposals in its communication of October 21^[2], the Council Presidency and the representatives of the European Parliament have meanwhile reached a preliminary political agreement on a targeted revision of the EUDR.^[3]

The “transition period” originally proposed by the Commission for large and medium-sized companies was removed. Instead, the bodies are in favor of a clear postponement of the start of application for all economic operators until December 30, 2026. Once again, an additional six-month transition period should apply to micro and small enterprises.

In terms of content, the upcoming amendment to the EUDR should bring significant relief for micro and small primary producers as well as for traders and the now officially independently defined so-called downstream market participants.

The changes at a glance

An official text version of the preliminary agreement has not yet been published. However, the essential innovations are already known and, according to current information (as of December 12, 2025), should be based on the amended Commission proposal last adopted by the European Parliament.

What is changing and who is affected?

In the future, the EUDR should differentiate between market participants, micro and small primary producers, downstream market participants and traders. Relief should apply, among other things, to so-called downstream market participants. These are natural or legal persons who, in the course of their commercial activity, make such relevant products available on the Union market for the first time that have been manufactured using relevant products that were already on the Union market and were therefore already the subject of a due diligence statement or a simplified statement.

As so often, the devil is in the detail here too. The Commission proposal for the amendment of the EUDR of 10/21/2025 is misleading insofar as the definition of the downstream market participant in the German text version was unfortunately incorrectly translated. In the Commission proposal, the incorrect translation creates the impression that downstream market participants are those who make products available on the market for the first time that are already the subject of a due diligence statement or simplified statement. The wording of the German text version thus not only differs significantly from the English original, but is ultimately incorrect in meaning. If the product made available on the market (and not its components) were already the subject of a due diligence statement, the person making it available would be a trader and not a market participant. It is to be hoped that this point will be improved again in order to avoid further misunderstandings and legal uncertainties on the way to implementing the EUDR.

The EUDR should also provide relief in the future for the newly introduced category of micro and small primary producers when it comes to fulfilling their due diligence obligations. According to the Commission’s proposal, micro and small primary producers are persons or small companies that are based in a country with a low risk of deforestation (Art. 29 EUDR) and, in the course of a commercial activity, place on the market or export relevant products that they have grown, extracted, harvested or raised themselves on the relevant areas. Larger companies can also benefit from these simplifications if the EUDR-related part of their business does not exceed the thresholds for small companies in at least two of three criteria (balance sheet total, turnover, employees).

Legal uncertainty also existed until now regarding the question of which printed products fall within the scope of the EUDR. In its amendment proposal of November 26, 2025 on the Commission proposal, the European Parliament recommended deleting products ex 49 from the annex to the EUDR.

Graduated requirements for due diligence obligations

The newly introduced categories correspond to graduated regulations for compliance with due diligence obligations. In the future, the content and scope of the due diligence obligations should differ not only according to the company size (SME vs. non-SME), but also according to the role of the respective actor in the supply chain.

In the future, primarily market participants should be obliged to submit due diligence statements (DDS) in compliance with the comprehensive due diligence obligations pursuant to Art. 4, 8 ff. EUDR (Art. 4, 4a EUDR Commission proposal^[4] in conjunction with Art. 2 Nos. 15, 15a EUDR Commission proposal).

For micro and small primary producers, the obligation to submit a so-called simplified due diligence statement should be reduced (Art. 4a para. 1, para. 2 EUDR Parliament amendments[5]). This must then generally only be submitted once and then only adjusted in the event of significant changes (Art. 4a para. 3 EUDR Parliament amendments).

In the future, traders and downstream market participants should no longer have to submit a due diligence statement (Art. 5 EUDR Commission proposal), but only collect certain information, keep it available for five years and make it available to the competent authorities upon request. The information to be collected includes the contact details of their own suppliers and the market players they supply. In addition, if the supplier is a market participant, they must collect the reference numbers of the due diligence statements already submitted by the supplier for the relevant products and the identification numbers of the relevant products (Art. 5 para. 3 lit. a EUDR Parliament amendments in conjunction with Recital 6 sentences 3 and 4 EUDR Parliament amendments). However, this latter obligation does not apply along the supply chain within the Union market.

The new gradations in the due diligence obligations should be accompanied by appropriately adapted controls by the competent authorities (Art. 18, 19 EUDR Commission proposal).

Revision clause

By April 30, 2026, the Commission should examine simplification options for the regulation and submit a report (cf. Art. 34 para. 1a EUDR Parliament amendments). In addition, the Council and Parliament are calling for a continuous exchange between experts, interest groups and all relevant actors on the implementation of the EUDR (cf. Art. 34 para. 2a, Recital 12a EUDR Parliament amendments).

Outlook and recommendations for action

A formal agreement is expected before the Christmas holidays as part of the last plenary sessions of the year. The vote is on the agenda for the European Parliament on December 16, 2025.[6] The preliminary agreement must be formally adopted by the Council and the European Parliament before the end of the year and published in the Official Journal. Otherwise, the previous regulations on the effective date of December 30, 2025 will apply.

The postponement of the start of application gives companies some breathing space and legal certainty. The changed requirements should prove to be considerably easier, especially for micro and small primary producers, as well as downstream market participants and traders.

Nevertheless, companies that have not yet progressed so far should use the time gained to integrate the obligations under the EUDR into their compliance system and set up a corresponding due diligence program.

[1] We reported: v. Minnigerode/Lenz, The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) – more than the title suggests, available at https://www.roedl.com/insights/eu-entwaldungsverordnung-eudr-mehr-als-der-titel-vermuten-laesst/ (last accessed: 12/10/2025).
[2] European Commission, Press release of 10/21/2025, Commission proposes targeted measures to ensure the EU Deforestation Regulation, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/de/ip_25_2464 (last accessed: 12/10/2025).
[3] Council of the European Union, Press release of 12/4/2025, EU law against deforestation: Council and Parliament reach a deal on targeted revision – Consilium, available at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/de/press/press-releases/2025/12/04/eu-deforestation-law-council-and-parliament-reach-a-deal-on-targeted-revision/ (last accessed: 12/10/2025).
[4] COM(2025) 652 final, 2025/0329 (COD), Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as regards certain obligations of operators and traders, 10/21/2025.
[5] European Parliament, P10_TA(2025)0295, Deforestation Regulation: certain obligations of market participants and traders, Amendments of the European Parliament of November 26, 2025 to the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 with regard to certain obligations of operators and traders (COM(2025)0652 – C10-0263/2025 – 2025/0329(COD)), available at: Adopted texts – Deforestation Regulation: certain obligations of market participants and traders – Wednesday, November 26, 2025 (12/12/2025).
[6] European Parliament, Draft agenda, Tuesday, 12/16/2025, available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/OJQ-10-2025-12-16_DE.html#top (last accessed on 12/10/2025).