Policy integration and coherence of EU and Finnish forest policy

Forests are increasingly subject to competing demands, including their role as carbon sinks, reservoirs of biodiversity, sources of raw material and renewable energy. Although the European Union (EU) has no competence to regulate common forest policy, forest-related issues are addressed across multiple policy domains, which often creates challenges for policy coherence. In the recent years, the EU-level governance has expanded significantly through legal bases that directly or indirectly impact forests.

We conducted an ex-post analysis of forest policy integration and coherence of EU and Finnish forest policy during the period 1995 to 2024. We examined how EU forest policy has developed, and whether the EU level development has been coherent with the development of Finnish forest policy. Our data comprised 66 regulatory policy instruments which were analysed using document analysis and policy-analytical framework.

We identified three distinct policy eras in EU forest policy: the era of sustainable forest management, the era of bioeconomy, and the era of ecological crisis. These eras reflect transitions in policy priorities – from production-oriented approach an increasing urgency around climate and biodiversity crises. Policy objectives between EU and Finland were largely aligned during the two first eras but diverged during the era of ecological crisis.

Overall, the fragmented multi-sectoral governance of EU forest policy presents significant challenges to achieving policy integration and coherence. Enhancing policy integration and coherence in EU forest policy requires effective consideration and reconciliation of the diverse range of benefits that forests provide within the policy-making process.