EU Deforestation Regulations Sweet Heart Proposal for French Guiana raises questions
A recent report by EURACTIV said that the EU Commissions has proposed a special exemption for French Guiana, one of France's last remaining colonies.
- The European Commission has proposed removing French Guiana from the territorial scope of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), using a special legislative procedure that avoids a full reopening of the controversial law.
- The deforestation regulation – which covers cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soybeans, livestock, rubber and timber – is set to start applying on 30 December 2026, following two consecutive delays.
- In a proposal unveiled on Thursday, Brussels argues that French Guiana’s exceptional geography, vast forest coverage and specific economic constraints justify tailored treatment under Article 349 of the EU Treaty, which allows EU rules to be adapted to the particular circumstances of the bloc’s outermost regions.
Protests in French Guiana. Image by Jody Amiet.
Should this sweetheart deal for French Guiana get approved, this would be the biggest signal from Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commission that the whole EUDR thing is less about protecting forests and more about protecting the EU’s self interests.
An apple to apple comparison
To keep it simple, let's compare French Guiana to the Indonesian provinces of Papua and ask whether exports from the Indonesian provinces should also be exempted from the EUDR.
The similarities between the two are striking as the Indonesian provinces of Papua also have exceptional geography, vast forest coverage and specific economic constraints.
On top of that, the rainforests in French Guiana and Indonesian Papua face the same threat from the global demand for green fuels.
On 16 December 2025, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced plans to expand palm oil plantations across West Papua as part of a broader strategy to achieve energy self-sufficiency within five years. Speaking at a joint briefing with regional heads from across West Papua at the State Palace in Jakarta, Prabowo declared that palm oil, along with sugar cane and cassava, would be cultivated to produce biofuels and ethanol, potentially saving Indonesia hundreds of trillions of rupiah in fuel imports.
Environmental and human rights groups have strongly criticised the plan, warning that indigenous Papuans will bear the brunt of its consequences. According to Indonesian NGO Sawit Watch, palm oil plantations in West Papua had already reached the environmental carrying capacity threshold of 290,837 hectares by 2022, with 75,308 hectares located in primary forests and conservation areas. Greenpeace Indonesia described Prabowo’s approach as reflecting “colonial logic,” considering West Papua as empty land to be filled by state projects while ignoring the sovereignty of indigenous communities over their ancestral lands. Following the announcement of Prabowo’s plans, Greenpeace Indonesia released a documentary that elaborates on the potential environmental threats the project poses to primary rainforests and indigenous communities.
https://humanrightsmonitor.org/news/prabowos-palm-oil-expansion-plans-for-west-papua-raise-indigenous-rights-concerns/
On the French Guiana front, Mongabay reported that a French Guiana soy biofuel power plants risk massive Amazon deforestation.
The French government, with the support of President Emmanuel Macron, appears eager to approve legislation that would bypass French environmental law banning large scale deforestation to build several soy-fired biofuel power plants in French Guiana — a French overseas department on the northeast coast of South America.
Currently, 98% of this region is still covered in Amazon rainforest and mangrove forest. The largest of the proposed biofuel plants — Larivot in Cayenne, the French Guiana capital — would require between 84,000 and 140,000 metric tons of soy per year to generate enough liquid biofuel to power the 120-megawatt plant.
Growing that much soy would require a large amount of rainforest clearing, totaling between 536 square miles and 892 square miles (nearly three times larger than the land area of New York City). Environmentalists are very concerned over the loss in forest carbon sequestration and harm to French Guiana’s Amazon biodiversity.
“The fact that France is pushing for policy deviations in French Guiana from European Union sustainability standards is incredibly alarming.… There will be an impact on forests if they change the laws and it could be pretty massive,” said Almuth Ernsting, a biomass researcher with Biofuelwatch, an environmental NGO.
Socioeconomic disparities have led to conflicts
Forests aside, socioeconomic disparities have led to conflicts. According to The World Indigenous Report published April 2026.
Socio-economic indicators for Indigenous Peoples remain significantly lower than the French national average: high poverty rates, limited access to healthcare, secondary education and employment, often precarious housing and severe constraints due to geographic isolation.
France has approved the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) but has not ratified ILO Convention 169. Indigenous Peoples are not specifically recognized in the French Constitution, and there is no national framework law recognizing their collective, territorial or cultural rights. Some forms of administrative recognition do exist, however (collective rights of use zones – ZDUC), although these are deemed insufficient by Indigenous organizations.
The IWGIA report on Indonesia shows a similar problem where the Indonesian government does not recognize indigenous peoples and classifies almost all Indonesians as indigenous.
The socioeconomics are comparable with the disparities between French Parisians and French Guianians and Indonesians in Jakarta relative to Indonesians in Papua.
The latest report on socioeconomics in Indonesian Papua indicated that poverty levels in Indonesia declined across nearly all provinces as of March 2025, with the exception of Papua and Maluku, according to the latest National Socioeconomic Survey released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) on Friday.
Nou bon ké sa Organisasi Papua Merdeka
The Free Papua movement “Organisasi Papua Merdeka” rings familiar with “Nou bon ké sa” which decries how successive French governments have treated Guiana, citing the area’s dilapidated infrastructure, the lack of security and development, the increasing inequality and discrimination, and the general disrespect.
Considering all the similarities between French Guiana and Indonesian Papua, should Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commission succeed in getting an exemption for French Guiana under the EUDR, then there are no reasons to deny exports from Indonesian Papua the same break even if the Papuan export is palm oil.
Published September 2026 CSPO Watch
An apple to apple comparison
To keep it simple, let's compare French Guiana to the Indonesian provinces of Papua and ask whether exports from the Indonesian provinces should also be exempted from the EUDR.
The similarities between the two are striking as the Indonesian provinces of Papua also have exceptional geography, vast forest coverage and specific economic constraints.
On top of that, the rainforests in French Guiana and Indonesian Papua face the same threat from the global demand for green fuels.
On 16 December 2025, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced plans to expand palm oil plantations across West Papua as part of a broader strategy to achieve energy self-sufficiency within five years. Speaking at a joint briefing with regional heads from across West Papua at the State Palace in Jakarta, Prabowo declared that palm oil, along with sugar cane and cassava, would be cultivated to produce biofuels and ethanol, potentially saving Indonesia hundreds of trillions of rupiah in fuel imports.
Environmental and human rights groups have strongly criticised the plan, warning that indigenous Papuans will bear the brunt of its consequences. According to Indonesian NGO Sawit Watch, palm oil plantations in West Papua had already reached the environmental carrying capacity threshold of 290,837 hectares by 2022, with 75,308 hectares located in primary forests and conservation areas. Greenpeace Indonesia described Prabowo’s approach as reflecting “colonial logic,” considering West Papua as empty land to be filled by state projects while ignoring the sovereignty of indigenous communities over their ancestral lands. Following the announcement of Prabowo’s plans, Greenpeace Indonesia released a documentary that elaborates on the potential environmental threats the project poses to primary rainforests and indigenous communities.
https://humanrightsmonitor.org/news/prabowos-palm-oil-expansion-plans-for-west-papua-raise-indigenous-rights-concerns/
On the French Guiana front, Mongabay reported that a French Guiana soy biofuel power plants risk massive Amazon deforestation.
The French government, with the support of President Emmanuel Macron, appears eager to approve legislation that would bypass French environmental law banning large scale deforestation to build several soy-fired biofuel power plants in French Guiana — a French overseas department on the northeast coast of South America.
Currently, 98% of this region is still covered in Amazon rainforest and mangrove forest. The largest of the proposed biofuel plants — Larivot in Cayenne, the French Guiana capital — would require between 84,000 and 140,000 metric tons of soy per year to generate enough liquid biofuel to power the 120-megawatt plant.
Growing that much soy would require a large amount of rainforest clearing, totaling between 536 square miles and 892 square miles (nearly three times larger than the land area of New York City). Environmentalists are very concerned over the loss in forest carbon sequestration and harm to French Guiana’s Amazon biodiversity.
“The fact that France is pushing for policy deviations in French Guiana from European Union sustainability standards is incredibly alarming.… There will be an impact on forests if they change the laws and it could be pretty massive,” said Almuth Ernsting, a biomass researcher with Biofuelwatch, an environmental NGO.
Socioeconomic disparities have led to conflicts
Forests aside, socioeconomic disparities have led to conflicts. According to The World Indigenous Report published April 2026.
Socio-economic indicators for Indigenous Peoples remain significantly lower than the French national average: high poverty rates, limited access to healthcare, secondary education and employment, often precarious housing and severe constraints due to geographic isolation.
France has approved the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) but has not ratified ILO Convention 169. Indigenous Peoples are not specifically recognized in the French Constitution, and there is no national framework law recognizing their collective, territorial or cultural rights. Some forms of administrative recognition do exist, however (collective rights of use zones – ZDUC), although these are deemed insufficient by Indigenous organizations.
The IWGIA report on Indonesia shows a similar problem where the Indonesian government does not recognize indigenous peoples and classifies almost all Indonesians as indigenous.
The socioeconomics are comparable with the disparities between French Parisians and French Guianians and Indonesians in Jakarta relative to Indonesians in Papua.
The latest report on socioeconomics in Indonesian Papua indicated that poverty levels in Indonesia declined across nearly all provinces as of March 2025, with the exception of Papua and Maluku, according to the latest National Socioeconomic Survey released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) on Friday.
Nou bon ké sa Organisasi Papua Merdeka
The Free Papua movement “Organisasi Papua Merdeka” rings familiar with “Nou bon ké sa” which decries how successive French governments have treated Guiana, citing the area’s dilapidated infrastructure, the lack of security and development, the increasing inequality and discrimination, and the general disrespect.
Considering all the similarities between French Guiana and Indonesian Papua, should Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commission succeed in getting an exemption for French Guiana under the EUDR, then there are no reasons to deny exports from Indonesian Papua the same break even if the Papuan export is palm oil.
Published September 2026 CSPO Watch