Joint Statement on the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

While the recent Commission proposal to simplify the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is a welcome step in the right direction—particularly in easing some of the burdens on downstream operators—it still fails to address fundamental problems and, in some respects, creates new uncertainties. Most notably, the EUDR continues to overlook the specific and complex production and distribution chains of printed products such as books, magazines, and newspapers.

As a result, the Regulation, in its current form, poses a tangible risk to press freedom and the broader cultural and information landscape in Europe. We therefore urge the co-legislators to exclude printed products from the scope of the EUDR, as was originally and rightly proposed by the Commission.

The Commission’s 2021 proposal correctly limited the scope of the Regulation to wood pulp and paper. This approach was both logical and proportionate: including finished printed products such as newspapers, magazines, and books contributes nothing to forest protection, while creating disproportionate burdens for press and book publishers and book retailers. These burdens threaten the viability of entire sectors that underpin media pluralism, cultural diversity, education and democratic discourse across the Union.

This is not a theoretical concern. In several Member States, large retailers have threatened to delist press due to the Regulation’s overly complex requirements. International publishers have already announced plans to withdraw from the EU market, as EUDR compliance is simply unworkable. These developments are a clear sign that the EUDR could undermine citizens’ access to professional information at a moment when our information space is already under pressure from disinformation and foreign interference.

Millions of books risk destruction because the Regulation would prevent their import into the EU – a disastrous outcome made even more absurd as the consequence of legislation intended to protect the world’s forests. All because of the inclusion of printed products in a Regulation that completely disregards their preeminent feature of being vehicles for content.

Printed products such as books, newspapers and magazines are already sustainable. They are generally produced from certified, to a large part recycled, or sustainably managed sources. They are sources of content and information and should not be treated as commodities. Including them in the EUDR adds red tape but no measurable environmental benefit.

We support the goals of the EUDR. However, if the regulation disregards the practical realities of diverse supply chains and imposes disproportionate obligations on sectors that do not drive deforestation, it risks undermining both its own credibility and objectives.

Excluding printed products from the EUDR is proportionate and enhances the effectiveness of the regulation. It would prevent collateral damage to sectors that form the backbone of Europe’s democratic, cultural, and information ecosystems and informed and pluralistic societies. Moreover, it would be in line with the EU’s long-standing recognition of the cultural and democratic role of the press and book publishing industries.

It is thus both justified and necessary to realign the scope of the paper value chain in the EUDR with that of the Commission’s original 2021 proposal, which rightly excluded printed products such as books, magazines, and newspapers from Annex I of the Regulation.

The signatories:

European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF): https://europeanbooksellers.eu/

European Magazine Media Association (EMMA): https://www.magazinemedia.eu/

European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA): https://www.enpa.eu/

European Publishers Council (EPC): https://www.epceurope.eu/

Federation of European Publishers (FEP): https://fep-fee.eu/

News Media Europe (NME): https://www.newsmediaeurope.eu/