BRUSSELS — European Union member countries on Wednesday agreed to delay and cut back the bloc’s flagship anti-deforestation law, setting up a clash with the European Commission over how far to push the EU’s environmental laws.

The move comes during the COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil, where the EU is trying to convince other nations to up their climate ambitions. The position adds more evidence to claims the EU is backtracking on its green goals, following a vote earlier this month to water down the bloc’s 2040 climate target.

The anti-deforestation law is designed to monitor the origins of commodities like coffee, soy and beef that are often produced on deforested land. NGOs warn the Council of the EU’s proposed delay and regulatory cuts risk gutting rules, which campaigners once hailed as a historic accomplishment for the EU.

“This opens the door over the next year for EU lawmakers to eviscerate a regulation which represents Europe’s most significant attempt to tackle the biggest driver of deforestation: clearing land for agricultural production,” said Pierre-Jean Sol Brasier, campaigner at forest and rights NGO Fern in a written statement.

EU countries’ position — which will now need to be negotiated with the European Parliament — includes a one-year delay for medium and large operators, a longer delay for small operators and a review clause to allow for further regulatory cuts if deemed necessary, according to the press release.

Forest ecosystems are home to over half of the world’s terrestrial species and, as natural absorbers of carbon dioxide, they play a crucial role in combating climate change. The law was designed to protect those environmental services.

But some businesses have long complained the law is too burdensome to take effect in its current state. Others say they are ready for its implementation and have called on policymakers not to delay or further review the law.

In a bid to appease the first camp — as well as several unhappy trade partners — the Commission last month proposed bringing the law into effect on Dec. 30 with some simplifying amendments and a six-month grace period for companies that struggle to comply. But many EU governments said the Commission’s text did not go far enough in alleviating administrative burden.

Hacking away

The EU is already in a difficult position at the COP climate conference as it works to convince big polluters to commit to more climate action in Belém. European governments backtracking on green policies and disagreeing over the pace of decarbonization has opened the bloc up to charges of hypocrisy — including from major polluter China.

The Council’s deforestation mandate is another example of the EU’s retreat from its Green Deal objectives.

The mandate contains far more flexibility than the Commission’s text and incorporates proposals put forward by Germany, whose Chancellor Friedrich Merz last week vowed to “exhaust all options” in a quest to hack away at the law to make it as “unbureaucratic as possible.”

The obligation to submit required due diligence statements — used by companies to testify that their products are deforestation-free — would fall exclusively on operators who first place a product on the market, for example.

Downstream operators and traders would also no longer have to submit separate due diligence statements.

The text had a large qualified majority, said one EU diplomat granted anonymity to discuss closed-door talks. Two EU diplomats said that Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain did not support the mandate. The countries have expressed concern over the push for further simplification.

The Council is now ready to negotiate with the Parliament, which is due to vote on its own stance next week.

German MEP Delara Burkhardt — leading work on the file for the center-left Socialists and Democrats — described the Council’s agreement as a “blueprint for undermining the EUDR” and said her group “can’t support this.”

The review clause will “cause maximum market uncertainty and a firework of deregulation proposals in just a few months time,” she said. “That is the death of the EUDR through the backdoor.”

This article has been updated.