The Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products: When the EU Takes on Deforestation’s Corrupted Roots

Abstract

Traditional science has long examined the causes of deforestation and forest degradation. Yet, it has often overlooked one of its main roots: corruption. As more recent research shows the intrinsic link between corruption and deforestation, this relationship deserves to be considered by the (legal) community in and of itself. For this reason, the present contribution analyses how the EU tackles the issues of corruption and deforestation through its legislative framework. It looks at the new Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, adopted on 31 May 2023. In particular, this paper identifies whether the new EU regime on deforestation effectively addresses corruption in the field. This includes a critical review of the Deforestation-Free Products Regulation, and more particularly, its context of adoption, its main features, its improvements, and its structural limitations. In addition, this newRegulation should not be cloistered fromthe broader legislative landscape.Thenew proposals foraDirective onCombatingCorruptionandfora revision of the Environmental Crimes Directive have the potential to mitigate some of the identified limitations and to playarole intackling thecorruption rootsofdeforestation. European Union, Deforestation, Corruption, Deforestation-Free Regulation, Due Diligence, Environmental Crimes