The European Commission has presented new measures to facilitate the implementation of the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Bioenergy Europe, The European bioenergy employers' association, and AVEBIOM in Spain, will continue the consultation process to analyze its impact on bioenergy, especially on waste and by-products already subject to sustainability, traceability and certification criteria under the Renewable Energy Directive.
The fundamental objective of the package is to facilitate the implementation of the EUDR by companies, operators and competent authorities before its entry into force at the end of 2026.
The package includes an update to the frequently asked questions and guidance documents, a report addressed to the European Parliament and the Council, a draft implementing act on the information system, and a draft delegated act on the scope of the affected products. The latter is a Commission proposal to introduce technical adjustments to Annex I of the Regulation, without reopening the main legislative text, and remains open to public comments for four weeks, with a planned deadline of June 1, 2026.
According to the Commission, these measures aim to clarify the Regulation's operation, reduce administrative burdens, and facilitate a more proportionate application. They do not propose reopening the EUDR, but rather making interpretative and technical adjustments to prepare for its entry into force at the end of 2026.
The draft delegated act introduces exemptions for certain materials, such as used or second-hand goods, samples, products intended for testing, and certain packaging. It also provides for specific adjustments in several product chains, including the exclusion of bovine hides and skins, the inclusion of instant coffee, and the incorporation of some palm oil derivatives.
Implications for bioenergy
In the field of bioenergy, one of the points that requires the most attention is whether the waste and by-products used as energy raw materials will be subject to new obligations under the EUDR, despite already being regulated by the Renewable Energy Directive.
The proposal published by the Commission includes some exemptions, but does not yet incorporate the request made by Bioenergy Europe to exclude from the scope of the EUDR the waste and by-products used in bioenergy that are already regulated by the REDIII sustainability framework.
The European sector's position is that waste and by-products used in bioenergy are already subject, where applicable, to specific sustainability, emissions reduction, traceability, and certification criteria under the REDIII regulation. Therefore, it is important to avoid overlaps that could generate duplicate documentation without providing a proportional environmental improvement.
In Spain, this issue is particularly relevant because bioenergy works with a wide variety of inputs: forestry waste, agricultural residues, agro-industrial byproducts, and other materials from the routine management of local resources. In many cases, these materials do not come from the additional extraction of raw materials, but rather from the valorization of existing resources that would otherwise have limited use or require different management.
Furthermore, the Spanish framework for forest regulation, planning, and control allows the SURE certification scheme to classify Spain as a low-risk country for forest harvesting, provided that operators properly demonstrate the origin, traceability, and compliance with applicable requirements. This point should be taken into account in the practical coordination between EUDR and RED.
The transposition and implementation of RED III further strengthens the requirements for operators in the sector. The directive expands its scope to include more types of biomass and new actors in the supply chain, requires demonstration of sustainability criteria and emissions reductions, and reinforces traceability through recognized systems and verifiable data. In the case of solid biomass, the power threshold for applying sustainability criteria was lowered from 20 MW to 7.5 MW.
AVEBIOM believes it is essential that the implementation of the EUDR be properly coordinated with this energy regulatory framework. Protection against deforestation and forest degradation is a shared objective, but its practical implementation must distinguish between raw materials with a real risk of deforestation and waste or by-products that are already regulated by other European sustainability instruments.