In November 2025, the European Parliament and the EU Council agreed to a further postponement. Originally, the EUDR was supposed to come into effect on 30 December 2024 (with large companies starting at the end of 2025 and small companies only at the end of 2026), but after complaints about unprepared authorities and a faltering IT system, the deadlines have been pushed back by one year.
The EU feels compelled to temporarily relax the rules. The European Commission acknowledged that the underlying IT system (TRACES NT) is not yet stable and wanted to prevent it from failing under the workload. At the same time, many Member States, companies and interest groups have raised the alarm about the enormous administrative burden and lack of clarity. Consultations revealed that ‘no company, and not even any supervisory authority’, was ready for the complex reporting obligations. Political pressure, both within and outside Europe, also pushed for a postponement. In short, technical problems and concerns about enforcement have now delayed the implementation dates by a year.
In the Council text of 19 November, the draft implementation date is uniformly postponed: 30 December 2026 for medium-sized and large enterprises and 30 June 2027 for micro and small enterprises. All enterprises will therefore be given an extra year; the hierarchy of large versus small no longer plays a role in the postponement. In terms of content, both the Council and Parliament embrace virtually all of the Commission's simplification measures: downstream parties will only have to follow one joint declaration, and micro-enterprises in low-risk countries will make one simplified declaration. The Council text even goes a little further than the Commission, for example by stipulating that downstream sellers no longer need to keep their own records and only need to pass on the reference number of the initial notification.
In short: the difference lies mainly in the timeline and the distribution of responsibilities. Whereas the Commission wanted to keep a category of large companies in the saddle with tight deadlines (they originally followed the 2024 schedule), almost everyone is now opting for a uniform transition.
Formally, both the Council and Parliament still need to confirm this new postponement proposal. Parliament and the Council are currently negotiating via a so-called trilogue. They are expected to reach an agreement before the end of 2025, before the old effective date of 30 December 2025. Once that political deal is in place, the new agreement will still need to be formally approved. Only then will it be published and enter into force (30 days after publication).
The new proposals stipulate that, if the bill is passed, large and medium-sized companies will have to comply with the EUDR from 30 December 2026, while small and micro-enterprises will have until 30 June 2027. This means they will have a ‘grace period’ until those dates. After 30 June 2027, full compliance will apply to everyone. In the meantime, the European Commission must report on the feasibility and administrative burdens by 30 April 2026 at the latest; if necessary, it may then propose additional simplifications.
For the meat industry, this postponement sends a clear message: continue working on compliance, even now that the date has been pushed back. Use the extra year to improve supplier lists, product records and traceability systems. Train your purchasing and compliance teams, implement digitisation and ensure that GPS or certification data from livestock farms is properly maintained so that the mandatory due diligence declarations can be completed quickly and reliably when the time comes. Do not assume that the EUDR is off the table for good.
At the same time, the government (and the sector) can use the discussion to identify specific bottlenecks and find workable solutions. For example, by insisting on additional simplification for farmers and lobbying for realistic deadlines in the final agreement. After the earlier postponement, enthusiasm among entrepreneurs was already tempered; as Flemish Member of Parliament Kathleen Van Brempt warns, further delays could further undermine support within the industry.
The short-term strategy is clear: prepare as if the EUDR will indeed come into effect soon, but allow extra time for checks and trial runs. Every day that the system operates with errors or imperfections could cost the entire sector a lot of money (fines of up to 4% of turnover, import and export bans, reputational damage). Until the final agreement is in place, it is wise to continue to actively participate in consultations with industry organisations and regulators, and to critically monitor the proposed rules. In this way, the meat sector can ensure that, despite the delay, it will be ready when the EUDR finally comes into force.
Sources: Overviews of EUDR postponements European Parliament and Council consilium.eu; announcements by the European Commission; and analyses by trade press and industry associations felt.be.
