The compromise text on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, proposed by the French Presidency of the EU Council, was agreed by the EU-27 ambassadors on Wednesday 9 March, according to an EU diplomat.
EUROPE had published a version of the text in question, dated 4 March (see EUROPE 12905/11). A latest version, dated 8 March, was seen by EUROPE. There are no major changes in this one.
France chooses to keep the same approach as the European Commission on the mechanism and does not address the problematic points. These include the use of revenues from CBAM or the withdrawal of free allowances under the Emissions Trading System (ETS).
According to a second source, a total of seven member countries are not quite ready to agree on this general approach. They feel that more clarity is needed on the key points mentioned above. However, the agreement was reached by qualified majority, which allowed France to move forward and have the position formally adopted at the Ecofin Council on 15 March.
The rapporteur of the text in the European Parliament, Mohammed Chahim (S&D, Dutch), believes that CBAM cannot be addressed without talking about the exit of free allowances from the ETS. “Not having a position on this issue is not a good starting point for negotiations. Negotiators should have a clear mandate”, he told EUROPE.
Several observers agree with this observation. Pierre Leturcq, analyst at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), regrets that the compromise postpones the most important discussions on the mechanism.
On the proposals in the text, it also criticises the choice of relying on decentralised authorities in the Member States to implement CBAM. “This creates a great risk of circumvention by importers (forum shopping)”, he said. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)