go to the original language article
Prague – Entrepreneurs are demanding an immediate postponement of the European regulation against deforestation by at least 12 months and the use of the annual pause to cut excessive bureaucracy. The Czech Chamber of Commerce (HK ČR) stated this in a press release today. The Chamber fears that a poorly prepared regulation with excessive administration will jeopardize the operational stability of businesses. The Czech Republic has repeatedly criticized the regulation, and the European Commission had previously proposed easing it for small businesses. However, according to the Chamber, this came too late. The regulation will come into effect on December 30 of this year.
“The regulation against deforestation is a bureaucratic and poorly prepared proposal. It is therefore good that the (European Commission) wants to simplify some obligations. However, the acknowledgment of the mistake comes too late, and it will be very complicated to approve the proposals in time. There is a significant risk that this will not be achieved, and from the end of the year, the rules will apply in their original nonsensical form,” said Tomáš Prouza, president of the Czech Association of Trade and Tourism and vice president of HK ČR.
The proposed easing of the regulation’s rules will mean that larger companies will be subject to controls and enforcement of the standards only from June 30, 2026. For small and micro businesses, there will be a one-year postponement, meaning from December 30, 2026. The Chamber claims that the reduction of bureaucracy could be even greater.
“We will push for further reductions in regulations and excessive administrative burdens, and we expect that the new government will also act as actively, as reducing both European and domestic bureaucracy has become one of its main goals,” said the chairman of the wood processing industry section of HK ČR Jan Matějíček.
Food producers have also previously warned about the risk of not postponing the regulation, fearing a collapse of supply chains and a shortage of goods in stores. The decision of the European Commission not to postpone the deforestation regulation was also criticized on Monday by Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný (KDU-ČSL). According to him, there is a risk that the system will not be able to launch by January 1, which would mean a huge problem for hundreds of thousands of entities in the Czech Republic and across Europe. (October 29)