Tomáš Zdechovský, Czech member of the EU parliament, filed a lawsuit against Ikea before the competition authorities of the European Commission regarding the furniture company's practice to only accept FSC certified timber for furniture production. "On a joint European market, the same rules must apply to everyone and owners must be able to decide freely between the FSC or PEFC certification systems", Zdechovský adds. Ikea's strict requirement for FSC certification could constitute an unlawful restraint of competition, as stated in the grounds of appeal.
In the Czech Republic, the FSC system only applies to 2% of the forest area. The vast majority of forests there is certified according to the PEFC system. In Austria, Germany and other European countries, the situation is similar. Foresters must finance those certificates with their own resources. If owners or forest managers wanted to switch from PEFC to FSC due to Ikea's requirement or hold both certificates at the same time, this would lead to a significant increase of costs, the MEP argues.
