On 28 November in Prague, five Member States - France and the four countries of the Visegrád Group (Visegrád 4 or V4) - expressed support for measures to penalise products imported into the EU with a higher carbon content than European products. This carbon inclusion mechanism would be "an important step towards the practical application of the ecological transition in all European Union countries", says the Quai d'Orsay.
In a joint statement, the five countries, France, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, agreed to continue working on the conditions and framework in order to ensure a transition to a climate neutral EU that is "fair and socially balanced", taking into account "the national situation of the Member States" and preserving the competitiveness of European industry.
Amongst other measures, the signatories said they were "open to discuss, on the basis of an in-depth impact assessment, the creation of a border carbon inclusion mechanism".
This idea was formulated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her political programme. In her mission letters to several members of her team of commissioners, she called on them to work towards the creation of a tax, or other adjustment measures, on carbon at the border. This would prevent a negative impact from her Green Deal on the competitiveness of EU companies. Products entering the EU would be taxed on their carbon footprint, thus levelling the playing field of EU industry and avoiding a wholesale "carbon leakage" (i.e. companies leaving for territories with less stringent environmental legislation). However, any such measures must comply with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)