Today’s vote by the European Parliament for a one-year delay and a weakening of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is a dangerous step backwards.

It is the second time this vital protection, which would hold agrifood businesses accountable if they destroy natural habitats or violate human rights, has been postponed.

The European People’s Party (EPP) joined forces with the far-right parties in the Parliament to make sure this hollowing out of the proposal passed.

The vote is part of a much wider political trend of European lawmakers' slashing rules which hold big companies accountable for their impact on animals, people, and the planet.

These decisions risk undermining the EU’s ability to tackle the global impacts of its supply chains, especially those feeding the EU’s livestock sector, and run counter to the commitments made by the EU at COP30 to curb deforestation and support sustainable production.

A step backward for tackling feed-driven deforestation

Today’s vote is a major setback for efforts to curb deforestation driven by Europe’s imports of soy for animal feed.

It proposes delaying the implementation of the EUDR by another year, and asks for a 2026 review clause to allow for further regulatory cuts.

Our recent Food not Feed report shows the staggering amount of grain required to sustain factory farms, and why we must shift towards farming systems that prioritise food for people over crops for animals in factory farms.

Europe continues to outsource its resource needs to more fragile economies and environments, such as Brazil, a totally unsustainable path for any climate and nature-positive future.

Europe’s dependence on soy-intensive animal feed continues to be one of the largest drivers of global forest destruction, particularly in South America. Forests like the Amazon are already approaching dangerous ecological tipping points, yet today’s outcome risks allowing high-risk feed supply chains to continue unchecked.

Vinciane Patelou, our Head of EU, said:

Today’s vote is a dangerous step backwards, which further defends the big businesses driving the environmental crisis, instead of defending the public against its impact.

Europe should be strengthening scrutiny of its supply chains that drive global deforestation, especially the long feed supply chains on which EU factory farms depend – not postponing and diluting the very tools designed to bring transparency and accountability.

Administrative convenience should not outweigh environmental urgency. Citizens expect Europe to take responsibility for its global footprint. Weakening these rules risks locking us deeper into an intensive livestock system that is harmful to animals, forests and farmers.

EU’s credibility at risk

The EU’s reputation as a global environmental leader is at stake. Every delay undermines the transition toward more resilient, higher-welfare, less feed-dependent farming systems – and pushes Europe further away from its climate and biodiversity goals.

We call on European lawmakers to:

defend strong, enforceable due-diligence rules that hold companies accountable
ensure full transparency across feed supply chains
support the production of food over feed and the transition away from feed-intensive factory farming.

The coming months will be critical to determine whether the EU maintains, or abandons, its ambition to address deforestation, global supply-chain abuses and its international climate promise. Strong, timely implementation of the EUDR, alongside a meaningful Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), remains essential for protecting forests, respecting communities, and accelerating the transition towards sustainable, higher-welfare food systems.

EU Parliament weakens rules against deforestation