Today, the European People’s Party (EPP) and far-right groups in the European Parliament rejected a compromise on the forest monitoring law – a move strongly opposed by the S&D Group.

The S&Ds worked tirelessly to ensure the law would serve its purpose: putting Europe on track to meet its climate, biodiversity, and forest resilience targets – including preventing the devastating wildfires we witnessed this past summer. By rejecting the text, the right wing has refused to take the necessary steps to guarantee reliable and harmonised monitoring of Europe’s forests.

This is not an isolated case. The EPP is systematically undermining the EU’s Green Deal – weakening forest monitoring in the European Parliament while simultaneously blocking progress on forest reproductive material in the Council. By obstructing both monitoring and sustainable forest renewal, conservatives and the far right are leaving Europe dangerously exposed to the climate and biodiversity crises.

Eric Sargiacomo, S&D lead negotiator in the European Parliament’s agriculture and rural development committee on the forest monitoring law, said:

"Europe’s forests are burning, yet the EPP and the far right choose to play the role of firebugs. We put forward compromise amendments that respect subsidiarity, give member states more resources, and ensure stronger control over data. Rejecting this text will not stop the satellites from turning. By denying shared competence on forests, the right and far right are not protecting national control – they are handing even more power to GAFAM, the US tech giants."

Marta Temido, S&D negotiator in the European Parliament’s environment, public health and food safety committee on the forest monitoring law, said:

“Europe cannot meet its climate and biodiversity targets if we deliberately blind ourselves to what is happening in our forests. By rejecting obligations for geo-referenced satellite data on tree cover loss and forest degradation or data sharing, the EPP has made early detection of threats almost impossible. With wildfires, droughts, and pests hitting Europeans harder every summer, weakening forest monitoring is simply irresponsible.”