The EU Council of Ministers will shortly adopt, by written procedure, conclusions in favour of a new EU post-2020 EU Forest Strategy that is balanced and strengthened and that supports and complements forest policy at national and sub-national levels.
The text of the conclusions, as seen by EUROPE, stresses the importance of the contribution of healthy and resilient forests, forest ecosystems and the forest-based sectors “to the timely achievement of the SDGs”, as well as for the implementation of the ‘European Green Deal’.
The EU Council stresses the need to continue to support a holistic approach, addressing in a balanced way the various dimensions of sustainability, and taking into account the diversity and different characteristics of European forests in their ecological, economic and social dimensions as well as the complexity of ownership patterns.
The EU Council calls for a concrete action plan, to be developed together with Member States, for EU forests beyond 2020 and a “robust review framework” to track the implementation and progress of the EU Forest Strategy, building on national data and information, “while avoiding unnecessary additional administrative burdens”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)