Forests and forestry are key to meet society’s challenges of today and tomorrow. Achieving this goal requires a sound policy framework and a constructive dialogue across all levels. This was one of the key conclusions of the CEPF Members Day 2014, which took place at the Académie royale de Belgique in Brussels on 10 December 2014.

More than 150 participants, including high-level speakers from the EU Parliament, the EU Commission, the EU Member States and important stakeholder organisations, discussed concurrent and potential initiatives and actions at EU and Member State level. The Significant societal and political changes are influencing the way EU society looks at forests and forestry. This has led to an increasing number of policy developments, such as energy, climate, environment, agriculture, economy and trade policies, ultimately influencing forest policy and management.

Looking back in history, Philipp zu Guttenberg, Vice-President of the Confederation of European Forest Owners (CEPF), underlined the difference between past and todays EU in his introduction remarks. In 1996, when CEPF was founded, Finland, Sweden, Austria just had joined the EU, and only a few topics such as rural development, Natura 2000 and the very first EU Forest Strategy in 1998 were discussed. Today, the EU has enlarged tremendously, with not only a regional but clear global meaning, and the policy puzzle has become far more complex. This is particularly critical as a clear coordination and coherency – for the benefits of the European forest sector – is missing.

Against the background of a missing holistic framework as well as a strong reference at EU and international level, the CEPF Secretary General, Aljoscha Requardt, welcomed in his introduction the Commissions’ in 2013 published communication on a new EU Forest Strategy, as well as the efforts made towards a possible Legally Binding Agreement on Forests at pan-European level. “The promotion of the core principles and values of the forest sector such as Sustainable Forest Management, multifunctionality and the competiveness of the sector remain key considerations for forest policymaking,” he stated.

The Czech Member of European Parliament (MEP) and Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, Pavel Poc, placed the need of an enhanced wood mobilisation at the centre of his keynote speech: “As a traditional source and as a substitute for non-renewable resources in construction, industry and energy sector wood plays a significant role for the European economy and for fighting climate change.” “To achieve this”, he added, “it is important to listen to Europe’s private forest owners very carefully, as they own and manage 60% of the EU forest area.”

Following the keynote address, a panel of Members of European Parliament, including Herbert Dorfmann(EPP, ITA), Ulrike Müller (ALDE, GER), and Claude Turmes (The Greens/EFA, LUX), provided its perspective on what is the role of the EU to coordinate and shape forest policy. They were also joined by MEP Olli Rehn (ALDE, FIN), Vice-President of the European Parliament and former Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs (2004-2014). Referring to his home country as an example, he stressed that active and sustainable forest management contributes to solutions for many local and global challenges. “Therefore, the potential of forest based bioeconomy must be utilised to its sustainable maximum. To achieve this, future forest policy must focus on opportunities, not mere restrictions,” he added.

This was followed by a panel discussion of EU Member State representatives from various Ministries, including Marja Kokkonen (Finland), Ingwald Gschwandtl (Austria), Matthias Schwörer (Germany),Jonathan Saulnier (France) and Arvids Ozols (Latvia). The panel discussion dealt with questions such as how forest policy could be coordinated and implemented best and whether forest policy is still a matter of the Member State competency. “Yes and no”, one of the panellists noted. The Member State representatives portrayed the situation as not just black and white, but rather as complex and fragmented, due to the numerous policy developments at different levels and in different sectors. However, while forest policymaking was still considered a competency of the Member States, there was great consent between the panellists for an improved dialogue between the Member States and the EU, ensuring better coordination and cooperation.

The expectations on EU forest policy today and tomorrow from a stakeholder perspective were in the spotlight of a third discussion. Juha Mäntylä from the Finnish forest cooperative Metsä Group, Tony Long from the WWF European Policy Office and Pekka Pesonen from the farmers union Copa-Cogeca provided their insights to these questions. Before the CEPF Vice-President closed the CEPF Members Day 2014, Pia Bucella, Director at DG Environment, and Aldo Longo, Director at DG Agriculture, shared the views of the European Commission in their final statements and outlined how EU forest policies could develop in future, emphasising the increasing role forests and forestry plays to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

Concluding the CEPF Members Day 2014, the CEPF Vice-President highlighted once more the need for an open and improved dialogue across all levels on forest policy. The Commission plays a vital role by providing the necessary platforms for discussion at European level. “Let’s talk with each other not just about one another” Philipp zu Guttenberg ended.

The Confederation of European Forest Owners (CEPF) is the umbrella association of national forest owner organizations in Europe. It works as the representative of family forestry in Europe, by promoting the values of sustainable forest management, private property ownership and the economic viability of the forest holding. CEPF serves the interests of approximately 16 million forest owners. They are private individuals, families and cooperatives that take care of approximately 60% of the European forest area.