“The EUDR must be simplified”. Eighteen ministers of agriculture from EU countries (out of 27: qualified majority) have sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling for a quick simplification of the Anti-Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). According to the signatories (Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Rep., Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden), the current provisions are disproportionate to the stated goal of combating deforestation and jeopardize the competitiveness of entire sectors, including the livestock one.
“The EUDR needs to be simplified”
The issue of amending the EUDR had already been raised by Antonio Tajani, vice-president of the Italian Council of Ministers and minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), who called for the exclusion of cowhide from the regulation or its profound simplification, incorporating the demands made by UNIC-Italian Tanneries and local representatives of the tanning district.
In a letter addressed to von der Leyen and Trade Commissioner Šefčovič, Minister Tajani had called the exclusion of bovine leather from the EUDR “an existential issue”. The Italian tanning industry employs more than 18,000 people and accounts for about 65% of the European sector. The letter follows a meeting between Tajani, UNIC leadership and local governments, during which the risks posed by the EUDR to the future of the industry were outlined.
UNIC’s commitment
The issue was also a central topic of conversation during UNIC’s July 1 general meeting. “For the past four years”, said President Fabrizio Nuti, “our energy has been focused on countering this regulation. Without the exclusion of cowhide, or without substantial simplification, the EUDR will have devastating effects”. Since 2021, UNIC has being doing steady work: letters to Brussels, meetings with MEPs, questions, seminars, commissioned studies to law firms. On June 3, the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna study was presented to the European Parliament. And only a few days later, on June 16, Tajani acknowledged the request of writing to the European Commission.
Photo from Shutterstock
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