The German Saw and Wood Industry Association, the Austrian Wood Industry Association, and the Swiss Wood Industry Association discussed the current economic and political conditions. The focus of the discussions was increasing regulation from Brussels and its impact on the industry. With the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), companies across countries are faced with major challenges and significant burdens and fear disruptions along the entire value chain.
“Forests and wood have been facing more and more challenges at European level in recent years. While the economic conditions have deteriorated significantly in recent months, additional regulations and documentation requirements lead to considerable additional burdens and sometimes unfulfillable requirements for companies,” state the association representatives. “Instead of targeted reductions in bureaucracy and thus setting the framework for long-term economic recovery and transformation towards climate protection, politicians in Brussels are accepting locational and competitive disadvantages that could lead to distortions across countries.”
Adjustments to the EUDR are urgently needed
In particular, the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation hangs over the industry like the sword of Damocles. After the test phase of the EUDR revealed glaring deficiencies and showed that implementation according to current specifications is not possible, the associations are calling for a change of course: “From the beginning, people warned against over-regulation and unrealistic specifications. The deadline and requirements of the EUDR must now be adjusted so that a practical and legally secure implementation with mitigations is guaranteed for countries with demonstrably stable forest areas, sustainable forest management and comprehensive national legislation. Otherwise, the entire value chain risks sinking into bureaucracy – with negative consequences for climate protection, sustainable housing and the economic development of the entire EU.”
The German Saw and Wood Industry Association (DeSH) represents the interests of the German saw and wood industry at national, European and international levels. The association supports its members, including more than 400 companies from all over Germany, in economic and industry policy matters and supports the continuous improvement of the economic and political framework for the use of wood as a raw material.
The Austrian Wood Industry Association represents the interests of almost 1,300 wood processing companies in the building products, furniture, panel, sawmill and ski industries as well as in other wood processing companies such as pallet manufacturing.
The Swiss Wood Industry Association represents around 200 small and medium-sized companies with a total of 2,500 employees in the sawmill and wood-based materials industry.
