The wood-based sector – comprising industries that rely primarily on wood and wood-based products such as roundwood, sawnwood, pulpwood, plywood, veneers, wood chips and pulp – is receiving increasing attention from national, European and international policymakers.

Wood offers numerous benefits: it is a renewable, organic material that sequesters carbon throughout its life cycle, substitutes for fossil-based materials such as steel, plastic and concrete, and supports the transition to a circular bioeconomy. However, balancing its industrial use with the protection of forests and their ecosystem services – such as biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration – presents policy challenges and trade-offs.

The wood-based sector operates in a highly diverse policy landscape, spanning multiple industries, stakeholders, and interests. The fragmented and diverse EU policy environment compounds this complexity. Unlike other sectors governed by a single policy, there is no EU-wide policy for wood. Instead, wood-related policymaking follows the principle of subsidiarity, with EU Member States (MS) having the primary responsibility for policymaking. The only exceptions to this rule are certain non-timber forest products, such as cork and certain forest-based fruits. This lack of direct EU competence results in a complex web of regulatory, strategic and financial policy instruments that directly and indirectly influence the sector. Some policy instruments can incentivise or restrict forest-based wood production, while others shape the regulatory landscape for wood-dependent industries.

The picture is further complicated by the diversity of wood value chains, spanning sectors such as construction, furniture, energy, paper, plastics and textiles. Policy instruments can have different impacts depending on where companies operate within the supply and value chains. For example, a sawmill faces different regulatory challenges than a furniture manufacturer, while bioplastics producers are subject to various environmental and product safety regulations as compared to paper mills.

Clarifying the links between different EU policy instruments that affect the wood-based sector is essential to address this complexity. This requires a comprehensive understanding of how broader environmental, climate, socioeconomic, and industrial priorities intersect with the perspectives of institutions, policymakers, and stakeholders.