EUDR in 2025: When readiness met reality

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) entered 2025 as a formally adopted law with a fixed start date, but the year quickly exposed the gap between legislative ambition and operational readiness. What followed was not a sudden policy U-turn, but a slow, cumulative process that ended with a decision to postpone implementation. At the start of the year, companies across the wood, paper, furniture and agricultural sectors were still working toward compliance, but many of the tools needed to do so were incomplete. The EU’s digital due-diligence system was still under development, technical guidance was arriving in ...