- Notice
| Legal Analysis: Accreditation Procedure in the Illegal-Timber Regulation |
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October 2009 | Read the analysis The European Parliament recently adopted amendments to the European Commission proposal laying down obligations on operators that make timber or timber products available on the EU market. An important feature of the Commission proposal and Parliament amendments is that operators may—in lieu of using a framework of procedures and measures of their own design—make use of a due-diligence system of a recognised monitoring organisation. In accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, the proposed regulation and amendments are now under consideration by the Council of the European Union. Several questions have arisen regarding whether the Commission or competent authorities in Member States are best suited to “recognise” monitoring organisations. Our analysis reviews the process for recognising monitoring organisations—also called the accreditation procedure—under both the Commission proposal and parliament amendments. It then addresses considerations related to the principle of subsidiarity and reviews policy justifications for centralising accreditation authority at the Commission level. |
