Joint INTA-ENVI-DEVE held an exchange of views on the Evaluation of FLEGT Action Plan and EU Timber Regulation Review. Members of the three Committees debated together with the European Commission on the effectiveness and coherence of the EU policies and actions in this field.
Illegal logging and trade in illegally logged timber is a persistent global problem that the EU is addressing through the Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) in force since 2003.
The cornerstone of this action plan is a bilateral voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) between the EU and a wood exporting country committing both parties to trading only legally harvested timber and timber products. The EU Timber Regulation (EU/995/2010) is the key instrument focusing on the demand side of the problem.