Addressing timber (il)legality in the Western Balkan: Stakeholder perspectives on the EUTR and the new Regulation on Deforestation-free Products

Some Western Balkan countries are among high-risk timber exporting countries as they are considered to comprise the corridor of illegal timber and timber products from the East to the West. In general, research on deforestation and illegal forest activities in Balkan countries received less attention compared to other high-risk regions and countries, such as tropical ones. Although some studies focus on the legality aspects associated to forest management, timber harvesting and processing in the Balkan countries, they mostly target the topic just partially (e.g., focusing on trade data and trends) or pay attention to the role of existing policy tools (e.g. forest certification) in coping with the problem. This paper aims to approach timber legality issues in the Western Balkans from a different angle. Building on public policy and environmental governance studies, we approach the issue of timber legality in the Western Balkans by investigating the transposition of European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) requirements into the national policy frameworks of five selected Western Balkan countries (i.e., Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia Montenegro and the Republic of Srpska, BH). By adopting a multiple embedded case study design, we collected national policies and regulations related to the prevention and tackling of illegal logging, as well as those dealing with the trade in timber and timber products in targeted countries and conducted qualitative content analysis of retrieved documents to check the extent to which EUTR requirements are covered. Moreover interviews with more than 30 key informants were performed across selected countries. We analyzed interviewees’ perceptions about EUTR and the forthcoming Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) looking into five main dimensions, i.e., awareness, transparency, information, resources, and challenges of ensuring timber legality. Following actor-centered institutionalism we further distinguished institutional and actors-oriented factors influencing the transposition of EUTR requirements into national policies and forestry practice. Our contribution will offer a comparative gap analysis about EUTR incorporation within the national policy frameworks of targeted countries as well as an overview of common and opposing perceptions on timber legality and legitimate forestry practices of key stakeholders in five Western Balkan countries.