European Forestry Pulse #91 🌲

Hello,

The EUDR rulebook went quiet for three months. This week it came back — with less in scope and one new shortcut.

Here's what's moving European forestry this week:

The EU's deforestation system has been a moving target all year. This week it stopped moving and started shipping.

The EUDR online system went dark on 16 February 2026 for upgrades. On 1 June, the Commission published the updated V3 technical guide for operators.

V3 covers the Due Diligence Statement, the core EUDR filing. It also adds a brand-new Simplified Declaration service.

The old V1 and V2 versions will be switched off when V3 launches. Submissions filed before the change stay readable in the system.

The first release lands in early summer and turns on the core filing. Simplified declarations and voluntary grouping follow over the summer.

The same week, the product-scope consultation closed. The May simplification package proposed dropping leather, retreaded tyres, packaging, used goods and samples. It proposed adding soluble coffee and some palm oil products.

The Commission says the rules will not be reopened again. The deadline for large and medium operators stays 30 December 2026. Timber-sector micro and small operators sit in that December group too.

For three months, the talk was all about delay. The signal is now simpler. The system is live and dated.

Large operators have under seven months left. The system reopening in June is the milestone that matters now.

The new Simplified Declaration is the first sign of a lighter path for micro and small operators. One caution: the implementing rules are still being amended. Some details may change in later releases.

While the sector argued about postponement, Brussels quietly shipped the plumbing. The deadline did not move. The system did.

If you place timber on the EU market first: rebuild your filing on the V3 system now. V1 and V2 die with V3.

If you are a downstream buyer: you do not file your own statement. You keep the upstream reference number and pass it on.

If you sit on a board: the December date is final. There is no third delay. Plan and budget for it. Sources: European Commission — EUDR Information System (Green Forum) | European Commission — Simplification review (IP/26/941) | Baker McKenzie — EU Commission publishes simplification review of EUDR

On 28 May, ten pan-European forest-sector organisations issued a joint statement. They support the Stockholm Ministerial Declaration, "FOREST EUROPE – Sustainable Forests for Resilient Societies."

The signatories are CEI-Bois, CEPF, Cepi, Copa-Cogeca, ELO, EOS, EUSTAFOR, FECOF, UEF and USSE. That covers woodworking, forest owners, paper, farmers, landowners, sawmills, state forests, municipal forests, foresters' unions and southern foresters. They call the existing Sustainable Forest Management framework "fit for purpose."

Why it matters: Sustainable Forest Management underpins how countries read the EUDR, LULUCF and the EU Forest Strategy. A united owner-and-industry line gives ministers a clear reference point when the Declaration is signed today and tomorrow.

The takeaway: If your national association hasn't told you its Stockholm position, ask this week. Sources: FOREST EUROPE — Stockholm Ministerial Conference 2026 | CEPF — News & media

On 27 May, Holmen, SCA, Stora Enso and Sveaskog joined drone maker AirForestry in a SEK 20 million pilot. The goal is to test autonomous drone thinning in live forests at each company.

The system uses a six-metre electric drone. It selects and harvests single trees from above. No machines touch the ground. That means no strip roads and no soil compaction. Early project data suggest gentler thinning can lift stand growth by about 8% over a full cycle.

Why it matters: Thinning is where soil damage and cost pile up. Taking the machine off the soil changes both at once. This is the first multi-company commitment to autonomous aerial thinning in Europe.

The context: It follows Deep Forestry's €3M raise (EFP #87) and Ponsse's first planter (EFP #89). The Nordic tech stack keeps moving from concept to field.

The takeaway: If you manage thinning contracts, watch the pilot's field results. They will reset what "low-impact" means. Source: SCA — Thinning from above with drones

On 27 May, SLU's National Forest Inventory published Skogsdata 2026. Sweden's standing timber stock now tops 3.6 billion cubic metres and is still rising. Losses from felling and dead trees are falling.

Per-Erik Wikberg, head of analysis at the inventory, said there is "a continued build-up of the timber stock."

Why it matters: The national stock is growing while southern Sweden runs short of sawlogs. The supply problem is geographic, not aggregate.

The context: Götaland's notified felling fell 47% in April (EFP #89). Vida closed two southern mills for lack of fibre. The wood exists. It just isn't next to those mills.

The takeaway: If you buy logs in Sweden, read the stock data by region, not as one national number. Source: SLU — Increased standing volume in Swedish forests

A document seen by Reuters on 27 May showed six governments resisting a Commission plan. The plan would hand out fewer free CO2 permits to industry through 2030.

The six are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. They want free permits frozen at last year's levels. They cited the energy-price impact of the Iran war. The Commission's plan would cut industry carbon costs by about €4 billion by 2030 by slowing the reduction. EU carbon traded near €79 a tonne on 1 June.

Why it matters: Energy-intensive forest-industry processors — pulp, paper and panels — sit inside this fight. Free allocation shapes their cost base.

The takeaway: If you supply mills in these six countries, their 2027 cost planning just got more political. Watch the Council. Sources: Reuters — Six countries resist EU plan to reduce free carbon permits | Trading Economics — EU Carbon Permits

Find out which EUDR system version you're on — before V3 forces the question.

The reset in the Big Story only helps if your filing is ready for it. Twenty minutes today saves a scramble in December.

By Friday you'll know whether your December readiness is real or just assumed.

The next time someone asks why you cut trees, you'll have thirty seconds to answer.

Right now — what do you say?

If the answer isn't ready, the Playbook is.

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Until Thursday!

Wish you all the best: Peter

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