The European Parliament is preparing its report on the EU Forest Strategy for 2030 published by the European Commission on 14 July 2021. The work is ongoing in two committees of which the AGRI Committee is the leading committee and the ENVI Committee will prepare an opinion as an associated committee.
The AGRI Committee’s rapporteur is MEP Ulrike Müller (RE/DE). MEP Müller has published her draft report and presented it to the AGRI Committee. The Committee vote on the report is expected to take place in July and the plenary vote in September/October.
The opinion by the ENVI Committee is prepared by MEP Luisa Regimenti (EPP/IT) and her draft opinion has also been published. The Committee vote is expected to take place in June and the plenary vote in September/October.
To support the rapporteurs’ work, a public hearing "A new EU Forest Strategy for 2030 – how to reconcile economic potentials of forestry beyond wood with reaching biodiversity and climate targets” was organised on 28 February. The hearing gave the opportunity to Members of AGRI and ENVI Committees to discuss with experts from science, practice and civil society about the latest developments in the field of forest management and provided insights into already existing opportunities. During the hearing, MEP Müller highlighted the proper involvement of forest owners in the implementation of the Strategy and underlined the importance of taking the small size of forest properties in several EU countries into account.
Joan Calabuig Rull, is the rapporteur in the NAT Commission in charge of preparing CoR’s opinion on the Strategy. The draft opinion was voted in the NAT Commission on 3 February and the plenary vote will take place during the plenary session on 27 - 28 April.
The draft opinion takes similar line with the conclusions by the Council of the European Union and the opinion by the Economic and Social Committee. It raises questions, among others, on the inclusion of regional and local levels as well as of forest owners in the preparation of the strategy and on the balance between forests’ multiple functions. The draft report also calls for more support to the concept of sustainable forest management as well as for clarifications in the strategy ahead of its implementation.
