16 March 2022

EURACTIV: EU countries agree world’s first carbon tariff, but leave out controversial issue

The EU’s 27 economy ministers reached an agreement to introduce a carbon levy on imports of highly-polluting goods like steel, cement and fertilisers, but kicked the can down the road on controversial aspects like the use of revenues coming from the scheme.

The carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) was proposed by the European Commission last year as a way to protect EU industry from imports of products coming from countries where it is cheaper to pollute.

Making headway on the idea is a priority for France which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU. According to French economy minister Bruno Le Maire, who chaired yesterday’s meeting, the agreement between EU countries on CBAM is “a victory for European climate policy”.

“It will give us a tool to speed up the decarbonisation of our industry, while protecting it from companies from countries with less ambitious climate goals,” he said.

“It will also incentivise other countries to become more sustainable and emit less. Finally, this mechanism responds to our European ambitious strategy that is to accelerate Europe’s energy independence,” he added.

EU countries want the levy to cover cement, aluminium, fertilisers, electric energy production, iron and steel.

The ministers agreed with a sizeable majority on their stance, which envisages greater centralisation of the scheme, including the creation of a new registry for importers at the EU level.

The lead lawmaker in the European Parliament has gone even further than this, calling for a CBAM authority at the EU level to prevent importers from shopping around for the best country to import into.

According to EU ministers, there should also be a minimum threshold for eligibility so consignments under the value of €150 would be exempt in order to reduce administrative complexity. This would cover around one-third of the consignments to the EU.

EU ministers also supported Germany’s idea of a so-called “climate club” where developed countries would align their carbon pricing policies as a way of reducing emissions and escaping the EU tax.

“CBAM has to be part and parcel of an open climate club. We want to encourage other countries to make similar and appropriate efforts, and we have to react to these efforts,” German finance minister Christian Lindner said at the meeting.

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