This week, the EU countries are making a new attempt to find a compromise. Whether this succeeds mainly depends on which argument carries more weight: the companies saying that waiting even longer is harmful, or the countries that believe the implementation must first be better arranged.
Large companies from various sectors are urging the governments of the 27 EU countries not to postpone the law's introduction any further. According to them, repeated delays primarily create uncertainty: companies then do not know where they stand and invest less quickly in sustainable supply chains.
At the same time, some EU countries distance themselves from that position. After weeks of silence, Germany has announced it wants a one-year postponement and then a reopening of the entire law. That proposal closely resembles an earlier idea from Austria and even goes a bit further than what the European Commission itself has proposed.
Germany is also requesting more flexible rules for companies combining different types of activities, such as hotels that also manage forest land. Germany believes that especially smaller companies and mixed businesses are overburdened if the law comes into effect without adjustments.
Because Germany now supports postponement, a majority in the Council of EU countries appears within reach for delay and reopening the law. This increases the chance that the current agreements will not hold. Yet there are clear opponents: France and Spain stated this week that they do not want additional easing.
According to the companies advocating against further postponement, each year of delay causes producers outside Europe to drop out. They indicate that partners in countries where the raw materials come from lose interest if the EU keeps changing course.
In the negotiations, concerns about feasibility are voiced: some countries fear that small businesses get bogged down in paperwork and that European systems are not yet ready to process all data. This leads to pressure to solve problems first before the law fully comes into effect.
The disagreements make clear that the EU countries are deeply divided. One group wants progress and clear rules for everyone, another wants to move forward only when implementation becomes simpler. Because of that contrast, diplomats did not reach an agreement this week.