30 Amendments of Anna-Michelle ASIMAKOPOULOU related to 2021/0366(COD)
Amendment 88 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) The Commission should continue to work in partnership with producer countries, and more generally in cooperation with international organisations and bodies, and should be reinforcing its support and incentives with regard to protecting forests and transition to deforestation-free production, acknowledging the role of indigenous people, improving governance and land tenure, increasing law enforcement and promoting sustainable forest management, climate-resilient agriculture, sustainable intensification and diversification, agro- ecology and agroforestry. In doing so it should acknowledge the role of indigenous people in protecting forests. Building upon the experience and lessons learned in the context of the already existing initiatives, the Union and the Member States should work in partnership with producer countries, upon their request, to exploit the multi-functionalities of forest, support them in the transition to sustainable forest management, and address global challenges while meeting local needs and paying attention to the challenges faced by smallholders in line with the Communication to Stepping up Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests. The rules must aim to minimise the burden on smallholders in third countries and prevent barriers to their access to the market and international trade. The partnership approach should help producer countries in protecting, restoring and sustainably using forest, hence contributing to the objective of this Regulation to reduce deforestation and forest degradation.
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) Bearing in mind that the use of recycled relevant commodities and products should be encouraged, and that including such commodities and products in the scope of this Regulation would place a disproportionate burden on operators; underlines the need to ensure the proportionality of regulatory burdens in the context of international trade, used commodities and products that have completed their lifecycle, and would otherwise be disposed of as waste, should be excluded from the scope of this Regulation.
Amendment 132 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 55
Recital 55
(55) In order to ensure that information requirements with which operators have to comply and which are set out in this Regulation remain relevant and in line with scientific and technological developments, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of supplementing the information requirements necessary for the due diligence procedure, the information and criteria of risk assessment and risk mitigation with which operators have to comply which are set out in this Regulation and the list of goods set out in Annex I of this Regulation. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level and with stakeholders, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council should receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts should systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 56
Recital 56
(56) Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 prohibits the placing of illegally harvested timber and timber products on the Union market. It lays down obligations for operators placing timber on the market for the first time to exercise due diligence and for traders to keep a traceable record of their suppliers and customers, which should be applied at an appropriate and general level to not cause any disproportionate administrative burdens. This Regulation should retain the obligation to ensure the legality of relevant commodities and products, including wood and wood products, placed on the Union market and complements them with the requirement on sustainability. This Regulation and the related Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 607/2012 are therefore rendered redundant by this Regulation and should be repealed.
Amendment 135 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 57
Recital 57
(57) Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 lays down Union procedures for the implementation of a FLEGT licensing scheme through bilateral Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) with timber-producing countries. VPAs are generally intended to foster systemic changes in the forestry sector aimed at sustainable management of forests, eradicating illegal logging and supporting worldwide efforts to stop deforestation; VPAs provide an important legal framework for both the EU and its partner countries, made possible with the good cooperation and engagement by the countries concerned; new VPAs with additional partners should be promoted; To respect bilateral commitments that the European Union has entered into and to preserve the progress achieved with partner countries that have an operating system in place (FLEGT licensing stage), this Regulation should include a provision declaring wood and wood-based products covered by a valid FLEGT license as fulfilling the legality requirement under this Regulation.
Amendment 141 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 61
Recital 61
(61) Operators, traders and competent authorities should be given a reasonable periodsufficient time in order to prepare themselves to meet the requirements of this Regulation,
Amendment 170 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 7
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 7
Amendment 175 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point a
(a) that the relevant commodities and products, including those used for or contained in relevant products, were produced on land that has not been subject to deforestation after December 31, 2020entry into force of this Regulation, and
Amendment 179 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point b
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 – point b
(b) that the wood has been harvested from the forest without inducing forest degradation after December 31, 2020deforestation after entry into force of this Regulation;
Amendment 187 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 19
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 19
Amendment 222 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point 1 (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point 1 (new)
(1) The Commission has presented a proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD); the Commission should make a comprehensive impact assessment for the alignment of the Directive on CSDD and the Regulation to avoid any duplicates and to reduce the administrative burden; the Regulation shall also be revised if any due diligence obligations have stricter requirements than the Directive on CSDD; also take into account the results from the impact assessment in order to design rules that do not forego but enhance competitiveness for all companies, in particular SMEs; reminds the Commission of the "One in, one out" principle and demands that the proposal on due diligence will be paired with suggestions on reduced regulation for the industry; The Regulation shall foremost support well-functioning systems and ensure that already existing global forest certification schemes can be used.
Amendment 223 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. The Commission shall analyse the possibility to exclude operators that are not considered as a high risk country from the obligation of due diligence statements.
Amendment 225 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point d
Amendment 231 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 3
Article 9 – paragraph 3
Amendment 233 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1
Article 10 – paragraph 1
1. Operators shall verify and analyse information collected in accordance with Article 9 and any other relevant documentation, and on this basis carry out a risk assessment to establish whether there is a risk that the relevant commodities and products intended to be placed on or exported from the Union market are non- compliant with the requirements of this Regulation. If the operators cannot demonstrate that the risk of non- compliance is negligible, they shall not place the relevant commodity or product on the Union market nor export it is not able to collect the requested or adequate information, they shall firstly be able to request assistance from the competent authority and secondly not place the relevant commodity or product on the Union market nor export it. This obligation must be analysed closely by the Commission and the regulation shall be revised if the required information lead to a disproportionate burden for the operator.
Amendment 245 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point i
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point i
Amendment 246 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point j
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point j
(j) complementary informationassurance onf compliance with this Regulation, which may include information supplied by certification or other third- party-verified schemes, including voluntary schemes recognised by the Commission under Article 30(5) of Directive (EU) 2018/200149 , provided that the information meets the requirements set out in Article 9; _________________ 49 Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (OJ L 328/82, 21.12.2018, p. 82–209).
Amendment 249 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 5
Article 10 – paragraph 5
Amendment 253 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 8
Article 10 – paragraph 8
Amendment 254 #
1. In order to exercise due diligence in accordance with Article 8, operators shall establish and keep up to date a due diligence system to ensure that they can guarantee compliance with the requirements set out in Article 3(a) and (b). The due diligence system shall be reviewed at least once a year and if necessary adapted to and accounting for revision or abolishment of provisions in other EU Regulations that generate compliance costs and administrative burden in the affected sectors or for new developments which may influence the exercise of due diligence. Operators shall keep record of updates in the due diligence system(s) for 5 years.
Amendment 273 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 12
Article 14 – paragraph 12
12. Checks shall be carried out without prior warningnotification of the operator or trader, except where prior notification of the operator or trader is necessaryand in close cooperation with stakeholders, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the checks.
Amendment 276 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) examination of documentation and records that demonstrate the compliance of a specific product or commodity that the operator has placed, intends to place on or export from the Union marketthe operator with the requirements of this Regulation;
Amendment 279 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point f
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point f
(f) any technical and scientific means adequate to determine twhe exact place wthere the relevant commodity or product was produced, including isotope testingare deforestation- free;
Amendment 280 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point h
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point h
(h) spot checks, including field audits, including where appropriate in third countries through cooperation with the administrative authorities of third countries. Any checks must be carried without disproportionate bureaucracy. If a product has been accepted, it should not be necessary to do another check, in order to keep the administrative burdens to a minimum.
Amendment 312 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 27 – paragraph 1
Article 27 – paragraph 1
1. This Regulation establishes a three- tier system for the assessment of countries or parts thereof. Unless identified in accordance with this Article as presenting a low or high risk, countries shall be considered as presenting a standard risk. For wood products listed in Annex I, the EU Timber Regulation shall apply until the Commission has assigned a country to a risk category. The Commission may identify countries or parts thereof that present a low or high risk of producing relevant commodities or products that are not compliant with Article 3, point (a). The list of the countries or parts thereof that present a low or high risk shall be published by means of implementing act(s) to be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(2). That list shall be updated as necessary in light of new evidence.
Amendment 349 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 29 – paragraph 1
Article 29 – paragraph 1
1. Natural or legal persons shall be entitled to submit reliable and substantiated concerns to competent authorities when they deem, based on relevant and objective circumstances, that one or more operators or traders are failing to comply with the provisions of this Regulation.
Amendment 358 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 32 – paragraph 1
Article 32 – paragraph 1
Amendment 374 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 33
Article 33
Amendment 376 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 36 – paragraph 2
Article 36 – paragraph 2
2. Articles 3 to 12, 14 to 22, 24, 29 and 30 shall apply 124 months from the entry into force of this Regulation, with the objective to facilitate a smooth roll out of the Regulation, hence reducing the risk of disruptive impacts on trade.
Amendment 391 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex II – paragraph 1 – point 3
Annex II – paragraph 1 – point 3