How Does the EU’s Pluralistic Institutional System Influence Policy Change? The Case of the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products

How did policy actors use the European Union’s (EU’s) pluralistic political system to achieve desired changes in environmental governance to regulate the sustainability and legality of transnational forest and agricultural commodity supply chains? We qualitatively analysed the policy development, institutionally negotiated design and political adoption of the new EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products (EUDR) from an actor-centred and institutionalist perspective. Data sources include policy documents, interviews and participant observation. Our results show that diverse demand- and supply-side public and private actors across national and supranational levels used the openness and consensus requirements of the EU’s political system to influence the EUDR’s development. No actor succeeded in fully institutionalising their beliefs and interests in the final compromise text. EU institutions codified ambitious external action-oriented socio-environmental normative standards in the EUDR under the lead of environmentally-oriented decision-makers. They mobilised multiple power resources and exploited multiple policy change pathways. The new trade rules build on existing regulatory standards in the forest sector, entirely replacing or substantially reducing their regulatory relevance while carrying on and expanding selected design elements. Our findings offer insights into challenges and successes of adopting external action-oriented environmental policies in pluralistic political systems such as the EU.