Bureaucracy chaos: Steinegger demands zero-risk for Austria!

Bureaucracy chaos: Steinegger demands zero-risk for Austria!

Andreas Steinegger, President of the Styria Chamber of Agriculture, expressed sharp criticism of the EU renovation regulations (Eudr) on May 21, 2025. He described them as bureaucratic and hostile to the economy, which, especially for forest -rich countries like Austria, has significant challenges. These have to prove that their supply chains for wood, wood products, cattle and soy are steward -free. Steinegger therefore calls for a "zero risk" to simplify the hard documentation requirements, which already receives support from the EU Parliament and Germany.

The Eudr came into force on June 30, 2023, but will only be effective for all companies from December 30, 2025 and for small businesses from June 30, 2026. This regulation regulates that certain raw materials and products may only be introduced to the EU or offered there if they are not connected to deforestation or forest damage. The progress in the German and European Union is supposed to counteract the global climate crisis and the loss of biological diversity.

bureaucratic hurdles for forest owners

Steinegger emphasizes that the bureaucratic requirements are serious. Small forest owners must indicate the exact location and the scientific names for each individual tree. It is also prohibited from selling animals from reactivated alpine pastures, although they may deliver the best animal welfare meat. The wood industry also sees itself through requirements for providing thousands of reference numbers for wood deliveries, facing enormous bureaucratic effort. Josef Stopacher, chairman of the wood industry specialist group, warns of high costs for the Styrian wood industry and calls for a revision of the Eud.

Rudolf Rosenstatter, chairman of the forest association Austria, adds that the forest area in Austria continuously increases. While the Eudr disadvantages the domestic forest owners, the forest area in Austria grows by about 2,190 hectares annually, and even by 571 hectares in Styria. This makes Styria the most forested federal state of Austria, with 62% of the area, which corresponds to about 1.014 million hectares.

goals and implementation of the Eudr

The Eudr has the clear goal of preventing the import of products and raw materials that are connected to the deforestation. This regulation includes entrepreneurial duties for trading with various agricultural products such as soy, oil palms, cattle, coffee, cocoa, rubber and wood. Raw materials must also be produced after December 31, 2020.

In order to facilitate the complicated implementation of Eudr for companies, the EU Commission has already taken measures. The regulation is simplified and the administrative effort is to be reduced by an estimated 30 percent. New guidelines and a country benchmarking system should help to harmonize the regulations. EU Commissioner Jessika Roswall emphasizes the need for cooperation and transparency with international partners.

summarized Austria faces the challenge of meeting the requirements of the Eudr, while the dense bureaucratic jungle is also criticized by the EU. The call for a "zero-risk classification" is supported by various actors in order not to disadvantage forested countries like Austria and at the same time to achieve global environmental goals.

For further information on the Eudr and its implementation, visit [BMLEH] (https://www.bmel.de/de/themen/wald/waelder-weltweit/entwaldungfrei-ziebenketten-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu. [EU Commission] (https://germany.represation.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-entwaldungsverge-kommission-reichtert-die-enemer- 2025-04-16_de).