The European Commission Presented a New Forest Strategy to The European Council

On 20 September the European Commission presented a new forest strategy to the European Parliament and the European Council; this is to replace the forest strategy that has applied since 1998. The new forest strategy was created on the basis of an evaluation of the so-called EU Forest Action Plan 2007-2011, which in turn is based on the forest strategy from 1998. The draft for the new forest strategy generally takes a much broader view than the concept from 1998. Aspects of the value-adding chain are to be taken into greater account in the effective framework for future regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations, and statements. At the same time, the manner in which forestry resources are used for generating products and services is to be taken into account in the new strategy just as much as the impact of forests on rural areas, the wood industry, bioenergy, and biodiversity. The new, considerably broader scope in comparison to the old strategy with a relatively heavy emphasis on sustainable forest management also draws attention to the fact that other political areas can have effects on forests and should be taken into account when decisions are to be made.