The Responsibility Gap in EU-Supported Forestry

This legal case study examines the allocation of responsibility in EU-supported forestry through the documented “Brodi” forestry file in Latvia. It analyses State Forest Service supervision, statutory reporting duties, forest regeneration requirements, EU support conditionality, changes of property ownership, and the legal attribution of responsibility for historical forestry activities. Particular attention is given to the risk of a responsibility gap where forestry operations have physically occurred, while reporting, administrative records and inter-institutional oversight do not fully correspond to the situation on the ground. The study considers Latvian forestry and administrative law together with the EU Common Agricultural Policy framework and examines the principles of good administration, objective investigation, legal certainty, traceability and protection of the Union’s financial interests.