Cotance writes on LinkedIn: On June 3, MEP Salvatore De Meo (EPP, Italy) in cooperation with the European Leather Industry (UNIC – Concerie Italiane & COTANCE) hosted a high-level workshop at the European Parliament—“EUDR: Is Leather a Driver of Deforestation?”—gathering over 50 global stakeholders, including diplomats from the US, Argentina, Turkey, & Australia, EU Member State officials (Italy, Poland), the European Commission, MEPs, international organisations, industry experts, and leading tanneries.

The Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna study: https://lnkd.in/e9y3Mvyz , presented at the event, confirmed:

• No direct link between leather and deforestation, based on a comprehensive review of academic literature, available data (94 million+ records, 29,200+ active serial titles, 330,000+ books), and 28 stakeholder interviews.
• Leather is a by-product of meat & dairy, not the cause of cattle farming
• EUDR risks undermining EU industry with unrealistic traceability demands
• Replacing leather with synthetics could worsen environmental impacts

“I am happy to stand up for an industry that is the pride of Italian fashion and that is unfairly stigmatized in the EUDR. We all want to curb deforestation, but it is not helping the credibility of EU legislation if it sets up measures that have no real effect on the environment while they stifle the competitiveness of EU industry” – said Salvatore De Meo, MEP (EPP/Italy).

Will EU policymakers acknowledge the evidence and listen to the voice of the leather industry?