The EU's post-2020 Forest Strategy, to be presented by the Commission in early 2021, should be “ambitious, independent and self-standing”, in line with the European Green Deal and ensure the continuity of the multifunctional role of forests, the European Parliament recommended on Thursday 8 October.
The report by Petri Sarvamaa (EPP, Finland) on the future EU Forest Strategy was adopted with 462 votes in favour, 176 against and 59 abstentions, with no changes in relation to the vote in the Committee on Agriculture (see EUROPE 12555/8). The European Parliament rejected two separate alternative resolutions, the first one tabled by the Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL groups and the second one by the ID groups.
Sustainable forest management should make forests more adaptable to changing climate conditions and promote their environmental, but also societal and economic sustainability, say the MEPs. Forest owners should receive new specific support for Natura 2000 areas and compensation for economic losses caused by protection measures.
The European State Forest Association (EUSTAFOR), Confederation of European Forest Owners (CEPF) and the EU's agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) welcomed, in a statement after the adoption of the European Parliament report, the “positive signal sent to forest owners and managers and the four million workers involved in forest value chains”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)