Brussels – The European People’s Party (EPP) allied with the right (ECR conservatives) and the extreme right (PfE and ESN) to scupper the European regulation on forest monitoring. In the vote held today (21 October) and which divided the European Parliament (370 votes in favour, 264 against, and 9 abstentions), the convergence of all right-wing groups proved decisive, once again distancing the EPP from the socialists (S&D), liberals (RE) and Greens, infuriated by the opposition of their majority colleagues.
The proposal on the ballot, presented by the Commission in 2023, aimed to harmonise the collection of forest data across the bloc to strengthen its protection against transboundary threats such as pests, droughts, and forest fires, thereby improving its capacity to assess forest risks and ecosystems. The idea was not particularly popular outside the Strasbourg Chamber either: the EU Council of 24 giugno 2025 had scrapped the Commission’s initiative, recommending a cheaper bottom-up approach. Now it has been asked to withdraw the text altogether.
The Populars vote together with the Right
The alliance is not a bolt out of the blue: it is not the first time that the European People’s Party (EPP) has decided to break away from its traditional coalition with socialists, liberals, and greens, to dismantle initiatives related to the Green Deal. We already had an example of this last year, when the right-wingers voted to postpone rules on products from deforestation countries by one year.
Now history repeats itself. The chief negotiator of the EPP, Alexander Bernhuber, explains it like this: “The law, as proposed by the European Commission, would have significantly increased bureaucracy in the forestry sector. Foresters, Member States and farmers would have been overwhelmed by excessive bureaucracy.” He was echoed by the leader of the Conservatives’ delegation, Nicola Procaccini: “They want to increase the costs for controls without any benefit for nature. That is why we are against the initiative”.
The Allies’ Reaction
The reaction of the European Socialists was immediate, denouncing the ally’s disloyal conduct: “This is not an isolated case,” they said in a note, “the EPP is systematically undermining the Green Deal. By obstructing both monitoring and sustainable forest renewal, the Conservatives and the far right are dangerously exposing Europe to climate and biodiversity crises.”
Hence, the green economy continues to be a source of tension and division for the ‘Ursula majority’, with the EPP continuing to challenge socialists, liberals, and greens in a very dangerous political game on which the future of the legislature may depend.
New attacks (in bad faith) on Timmermans
The centralisation of controls did not please the right, however. “We are all responsible for the health of our forests, but how they are managed must remain the decision of each member state,” commented MEP Stefan Köhler, chief negotiator of the EPP group. The MEP did not fail to get something off his chest towards the former climate commissioner, Labour’s Frans Timmermans: “The forest monitoring law is a legacy of Commissioner Timmermans: that is now history,” he said, without mentioning that, however, von der Leyen wanted the Green Deal, and it was based on this green agenda that she first got elected
It is too early to talk about an alternative majority in Parliament, even if the numbers would be there. The Popular Party’s snub of its long-standing allies is, however, evident and adds to the barbs thrown by Popular Party group leader Manfred Weber in the morning: “Sometimes the Socialists seem more concerned with their seats than with working together: I see that, for example, on simplification, there are those among them who disagree.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
