State of play, main conclusions, outlook

A cumulative cost assessment of the cost impacts of the most relevant EU legislation and policies for the EU forest-based industries (woodworking and pulp & paper included, furniture or printing not covered) between 2005 and 2014.

The EU legislation analysed was prioritised from over one hundred acts and grouped in eight policy areas or "legislative packages" (competition; climate & energy; environment; forest-related; employment; product-related; transport and trade).

In addition, an analysis of the industries' cost structures was made in relation to key international competitors (Brazil, China, and USA).

Findings

The regulatory costs differ considerably within and across forest-based industries sub-sectors (see below).

Two legislative packages stand out as the main causes of the EU legislative cost burden for woodworking, namely the environmental legislation, generating 42% of the estimated direct regulatory costs, and the climate and energy package accounting for 36% of such costs. For pulp & paper, the corresponding cost levels were 32% and 42% respectively.

The data generated will be useful for future evaluations of the legislative acts considered in this exercise.

Estimated savings and benefits

The variability of costs across the different forest-based industries' sub-sectors is significant and reflects differences in product groups and their production chains. The highest estimated cost as a percentage of added value is observed in wooden containers and packaging, amounting to 16.4% (average annual figure over 2005-2014), and the lowest in builders' carpentry and joinery, at 1.3%. The cost for wood-based panels represents 10.8% of the sub-sector's added value, for pulp 5%, for paper and paperboard 4.2% and for sawmilling 2.6%.