(1)

The Member States submitted national forestry accounting plans, including proposed forest reference levels for the period from 2021 to 2025, to the Commission.

(2)

In accordance with Article 8(6) of Regulation (EU) 2018/841, the Commission undertook a technical assessment of the national forestry accounting plans submitted by the Member States with a view to assessing the extent to which the proposed forest reference levels were determined in accordance with the principles and requirements set out in paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 8 and in Article 5(1) of that Regulation.

(3)

As required by Article 8(6) of Regulation (EU) 2018/841 and in line with the commitment undertaken during the negotiations of that Regulation, as laid down in the Statement on the involvement of experts addressed to the European Parliament, the Commission established on 30 October 2018 a Commission expert group (2) (‘the expert group’) tasked with assisting the Commission in carrying out the technical assessment. The expert group included, among others, experts appointed by the Member States and individuals appointed in their personal capacity, acting independently and in the public interest, representatives of the research and non-governmental organisations, and stakeholders.

(4)

Based on the views of the expert group and the technical assessment, the Commission issued technical recommendations to the Member States, with a view to facilitating the technical revision of the proposed forest reference levels. The Commission published the technical recommendations on 18 June 2019 (3).

(5)

As required by Article 8(7) of Regulation (EU) 2018/841, based on the technical assessment and the technical recommendations, the Member States revised their national forestry accounting plans, and, in some cases, proposed forest reference levels, and communicated the information to the Commission. The Commission published the proposed and, where applicable, revised forest reference levels on 25 February 2020.

(6)

The expert group agreed that the forest reference levels that the Commission proposes to include in Annex IV to Regulation (EU) 2018/841, were determined in accordance with the principles and requirements set out in paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 8 and in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/841.

(7)

The Commission should therefore lay down the forest reference levels to be applied by the Member States for the period from 2021 to 2025.

(8)

This Regulation is in line with the opinion of the Commission expert group on Land use, land use change and forestry,