The European Commissioner for Climate Transition expressed on Thursday her “deep disappointment,” the day after the member states voted to postpone for an additional year a law against deforestation.
The European Commissioner for Climate Transition, Teresa Ribera, attends a press conference on the EU’s global vision for climate and energy in Brussels on October 16, 2025. (Photo: Nicolas Tucat / AFP)
Brussels – “I cannot hide my deep disappointment and frustration. This is a bad decision and I am saddened by it,” said Spanish socialist Teresa Ribera on the social network Bluesky, after European countries supported on Wednesday the postponement of the enforcement of the anti-deforestation law until the end of 2026.
At the request of Germany and Austria, who were very critical of this text, the Europeans also approved a review clause in April 2026, to reconsider this law even before it comes into effect.
This landmark text, deemed pioneering by environmental organizations, aims to ban the marketing in Europe of products such as palm oil, cocoa, coffee, soy, and wood sourced from deforested land after 2020.
It continues to be criticized by agribusiness circles and countries like Brazil and the United States. The European Union had already postponed it once from 2024 to 2025, before the new deadline supported on Wednesday. The European Parliament must now take it up. (November 20, 2025)
