EU FLEGT policy context

FLEGT stands for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade. This EU initiative laid down in the 2003 FLEGT Action Plan sets out a programme of action that forms the European Union’s response to the problem of illegal logging and the trade in associated timber products.

Illegal logging results in serious environmental and social damage, as well as costing governments an estimated $10 billion every year in lost revenues. This was recognised in a G8 Summit in 1998, where measures to tackle illegal logging were discussed and an ‘Action Programme on Forests’ formally adopted. Subsequently, in April 2002, the European Commission hosted an international workshop to discuss how the EU could contribute to measures to combat illegal logging. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg in the same year, the European Commission set out a strong commitment to combat illegal logging and the associated trade in illegally harvested timber.

A number of other initiatives, arising from both national and international commitments, have also developed in parallel. In particular, three regional FLEG (Forest Law Enforcement and Governance) processes have been established in South East Asia, Africa (AFLEG) and Europe and North Asia (ENAFLEG). These processes, co-ordinated by the World Bank, have resulted in ministerial commitments to identify and implement actions to combat illegal logging in each region.

The EU FLEGT Action Plan sets out a range of measures that aim to combat the problem of illegal logging. These focus on seven broad areas:

1. Support to timber–producing countries - financial and technical support to improve forest governance, policy reform, improved transparancy, capacity building and "support for the development of community-based forest management and the empowerment of local people to help prevent illegal logging" (EU FLEGT Briefing Note 1);
2. Activities to promote trade in legal timber - development of VPAs and multilateral frameworks for international collaboration;
3. Promoting public procurement policies - encouraging EU countries to buy only legally produced timber;
4. Support for private sector initiatives;
5. Safeguards for financing and investment;
6. Use of existing legislative instruments or adoption of new legislation to support the Plan; and
7. Addressing the problem of conflict timber.

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