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The document examines the proposed EU Regulation on deforestation-free products, specifically focusing on the country benchmarking mechanism in Article 27. It argues that the European Commission's initial unilateral approach risks trade distortions and diplomatic tensions, and instead advocates for a multi-stakeholder process involving civil society, Indigenous Peoples, and smallholders. The briefing compares the positions of the Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council, recommending that benchmarking include not only deforestation rates but also compliance with national legality requirements and human rights standards. It suggests that a transparent, inclusive process will better incentivize producer countries to reform forest governance and reduce the risk of 'leakage' to less stringent markets.

The report highlights a significant gap between current EU agricultural emissions trends and the 2030 and 2050 climate targets. It identifies the absence of agriculture from the EU Taxonomy as a major barrier to defining sustainable activities. The author proposes repurposing the CAP, which accounts for approximately 30% of the EU budget, to fund a transition that requires an estimated annual public investment of EUR 155bn to reduce emissions by 53% by 2050. Key recommendations include adopting science-based sectoral criteria, reforming payment structures to reward green practices, and potentially extending the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to agrifood products to prevent carbon leakage.