TY - UNPB

T1 - Towards Deforestation-free Procurement?

T2 - Reflections on the interplay between the new Deforestation Regulation and Public Procurement in the EU

AU - Falvo, Chiara

AU - Muscaritoli, Federica

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Deforestation and forest degradation are major environmental and socio-economic challenges threatening biodiversity and local communities' livelihoods and exacerbating climate change. The global demand for certain agricultural commodities and products is one of the main drivers of these phenomena. In an attempt to respond to increasing pressures from EU stakeholders and to curb consumption-driven deforestation, the EU recently adopted Regulation 2023/1115, the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The EUDR applies to a list of commodities and products that are strongly linked to deforestation and forest degradation and are often part of global and complex supply chains. Under the EUDR, relevant commodities and products can be placed on or be exported from the EU market only if they are deforestation-free and legally produced. To this end, the Regulation foresees targeted due diligence obligations for market actors to ensure the traceability of their supply chains, collect information, and assess and mitigate risks. The EUDR also includes a procurement-specific provision establishing the “temporary exclusion from public procurement processes for a maximum period of 12 months” as a minimum penalty for the breach of its provisions. This Working Paper provides an overview of this new legal instrument and analyses the interplay between its rules and EU public procurement law. In particular, it aims to characterise this new “deforestation exclusion” in light of the regime on exclusion provided by Directive 2014/24/EU.

AB - Deforestation and forest degradation are major environmental and socio-economic challenges threatening biodiversity and local communities' livelihoods and exacerbating climate change. The global demand for certain agricultural commodities and products is one of the main drivers of these phenomena. In an attempt to respond to increasing pressures from EU stakeholders and to curb consumption-driven deforestation, the EU recently adopted Regulation 2023/1115, the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The EUDR applies to a list of commodities and products that are strongly linked to deforestation and forest degradation and are often part of global and complex supply chains. Under the EUDR, relevant commodities and products can be placed on or be exported from the EU market only if they are deforestation-free and legally produced. To this end, the Regulation foresees targeted due diligence obligations for market actors to ensure the traceability of their supply chains, collect information, and assess and mitigate risks. The EUDR also includes a procurement-specific provision establishing the “temporary exclusion from public procurement processes for a maximum period of 12 months” as a minimum penalty for the breach of its provisions. This Working Paper provides an overview of this new legal instrument and analyses the interplay between its rules and EU public procurement law. In particular, it aims to characterise this new “deforestation exclusion” in light of the regime on exclusion provided by Directive 2014/24/EU.

UR - https://sapiensnetwork.eu/toward-deforestation-free-procurement-reflections-on-the-interplay-between-the-new-deforestation-regulation-and-public-procurement-in-the-eu-working-paper/

M3 - Working paper

T3 - SAPIENS Working Paper Series

BT - Towards Deforestation-free Procurement?

PB - Sapiens Network

ER -