Standards as Authority: Self‐Legitimation in the European Union's Global Forest Governance

Abstract

This paper investigates how the EU's introduction of binding sustainability standards through the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) constitutes an authoritative claim and how this claim is legitimized. Using qualitative content analysis, the paper examines three interconnected self‐legitimation strategies: (1) framing standards as optimal solutions, (2) framing sustainability challenges in support of standards as the ideal governance response, and (3) positioning the EU as a credible global standard‐setter. The analysis shows that authority is not solely asserted through power, technocratic norms, or appeals to the public interest, but is displaced into the standards themselves. The EU legitimizes its regulatory reach by presenting standards as seemingly objective carriers of authority, while positioning itself as a neutral setter of these standards. This strategy redirects contestation to regulatory and documentation systems that are presented as producing reliable governance results. The paper concludes by assessing the extent to which this configuration enables the EU to consolidate its de facto authority in global forest governance.