The front against the latest, recent amendments proposed by the European Commission to the EU deforestazione Regulation (EUDR) is widening and strengthening, which partially contradict what the Commission itself had previously declared. The proposal – now under consideration by the EU Council and the European Parliament – cancels the one-year postponement of the entry into force of the EUDR, setting it at 30 December 2025, and only grants a 6-month extension exclusively for micro and small enterprises.

This decision would have very negative consequences on the leather supply chain, would not contribute to achieving the goal of realistically fighting against deforestation and has deeply disappointed not only the Italian tanning industry, to the point that other national trade associations have also decided to join the Stop The Clock campaign, also supported by nations such as Austria. Stop The Clock requires, in other words, to activate a tool for suspending the EUDR, which – while preserving the environmental objective, shared by all, of fighting deforestation – allows to reassess its impact on companies, simplifying their obligations.

In the face of this urgency and in an economic phase that remains very critical for companies in the tanning sector, UNIC – Concerie Italiane hopes and urges that at EU level Italian politics and institutions will make a common front with Bruxelles – especially on the benches of the European Parliament – and, as already stated at bipartisan level in recent weeks, support in a shared and unified way the need to postpone the entry into force of the EUDR Regulation for all companies thus protecting the competitiveness of Italian tanneries and their employment levels.