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REPORT (14569/2025 – C100299/2025 – 2025/0259M(NLE))

Containing a motion for a non-legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council decision on the termination of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Liberia on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade in timber products to the European Union

A-10-2026-0146

Committee on International Trade · Rapporteur: Karin Karlsbro

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This is a non-legislative resolution on the proposal to terminate the EU-Liberia Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on timber trade. It regrets the termination but calls for a transition to a forest partnership to avoid a cooperation vacuum. The resolution demands that the Commission present a transition roadmap, continue governance structures, and ensure parliamentary oversight and stakeholder participation in any future forest partnership.

Committee position. The Committee on International Trade proposes a non-legislative resolution that, while regretting the termination, calls for a transition to a forest partnership with conditions to ensure continuity and stakeholder involvement.

Key points

  1. Highlights the negative environmental and social impacts of illegal logging and deforestation, including loss of income, poverty, and land conflicts.
  2. Recalls that VPAs require effective multi-stakeholder dialogue and regrets the lack of progress in implementing the EU-Liberia VPA, especially the non-operational licensing scheme.
  3. Calls for meaningful engagement of stakeholders, including indigenous people and local communities, to address governance and corruption issues.
  4. Stresses the importance of multi-stakeholder mechanisms, benefit-sharing, and strengthening the Joint Implementation Committee with adequate funding and capacity-building.
  5. Underlines that proof of timber legality is increasingly required in global markets and encourages international cooperation on standards.
  6. Regrets the termination's potential negative impact on civic space and calls for continued dialogue with Liberia on forestry and cooperation.
  7. Calls on the Commission to explore a forest partnership with Liberia to ensure timber legality and address illegal logging, building on VPA progress.
  8. Demands a transition roadmap before termination notification and insists that termination not take effect until a successor forest partnership is concluded, within one year.
  9. Calls for continuation of VPA governance structures, including the Joint Implementation Committee, and for strong accountability mechanisms in any future partnership.
  10. Stresses the need for parliamentary oversight and regular reporting to Parliament on VPAs and forest partnerships, and for revising the FLEGT Working Group's terms of reference.
  11. Calls for continued support to existing VPAs and assistance with the EU Deforestation Regulation, and for assessing VPA implementation to improve methodology.
  12. Calls for coherence between EU trade and sustainability frameworks when engaging with Liberia.

Who is affected

  • The Government and people of Liberia, particularly forest-dependent communities and civil society, who may lose VPA benefits and civic space.
  • EU institutions, including the Commission and the European External Action Service, which must engage in dialogue and ensure a transition.
  • Civil society organisations in the EU and Liberia, which are to be included in future forest partnerships.
  • Timber businesses and operators in Liberia and the EU, affected by changes in legality verification and market access.

Figures and deadlines

  • 589 000 hectares of tree cover loss in Liberia between 2021 and 2024.
  • 2.2 million hectares of forest lost between 2001 and 2022, a 23 % decrease since 2000.
  • 0.39 % of forest cover lost between 2010 and 2020.
  • 13 years since the VPA entered into force in 2013.
  • One year after the written notification of termination for concluding a successor forest partnership.

Legal basis: Article 207(4) and Article 218(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union