Brussels, 22/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The FLEGT action plan to address the import into the EU of illegal timber has not been sufficiently well managed by the Commission, the European Court of Auditors concludes in a report published on Thursday 22 October.
The Court says that support under the FLEGT regulation was not sufficiently well designed and targeted. A total of €300 million was allocated, as part of the action plan, to 35 countries between 2003 and 2013. While two countries, Indonesia and Ghana, have made good strides towards full licensing for their timber, in general, progress has been very slow and many countries have struggled to overcome the barriers to good governance. In the twelve years since the Commission introduced the action plan, no partner country has obtained fully-approved (FLEGT) licensing.
The lack of adequate planning by the Commission, together with the lack of clear funding priorities towards timber producing countries, were important factors contributing to this lack of progress, the Court states.
The Court also notes that four member states (Greece, Hungary, Romania and Spain) have not yet fully implemented the FLEGT regulation, which was introduced to prevent illegal timber entering the EU market. “Illegal timber could still be imported into the EU via these four countries. Europe, on the other hand, has promoted a licensing scheme to ensure that timber producing countries, around the world, export only legal timber. The EU should, firstly, put its own house in order and set an example in tackling illegal logging and the trade of illegally harvested timber”, stated Karel Pinxten, member of the Court of Auditors responsible for this report. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)