Sustainable forestry and the European Union: initiatives of the European Commission

In the European Union (EU), forest policies are implemented by Member States within a clearly defined framework of established ownership rights and with a long history of national and regional laws and regulations based on long-term planning. The forest based commercial activities fall within the open sector of the economy.

Though forests per se are not dealt with at EU level, there is an increasingly complex array of EU legislation and policy initiatives within different EU sectoral policies which considerably influences the forest policies of the Member States. An EU Forestry Strategy was therefore adopted in 1998, which puts forward as its overall principles the application of sustainable forest management and the multifunctional role of forests. In line with the principle of subsidiarity, meaning that every administrative decision should always been made at the most appropriate level taking into account the specific local circumstances, this Strategy seeks to establish a coherent framework of forest-related actions at EU level. It also aims to improve the linkages and co-ordination between different policy areas as well as the coherence with the forest policies of the Member States.

This brochure presents a general factual overview of current EU efforts aiming to contribute to sustainable development of forestry, both within Europe and also at global level through the EU development co-operation policy. The objective is to present in simple terms the main ongoing EU actions and activities related to the forest sector, which are complementing and reinforcing the forest policies of the Member States.