The French Presidency of the Council of the EU (FPEU) succeeded in getting Member States to adopt its ‘general approach’ to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on Tuesday 15 March (see EUROPE 12905/11).
A large majority has been built over the last few days around the compromise prepared by France. Most of the countries that were reluctant last week have been convinced by the accompanying note to the text. The Presidency said that important issues, such as the exit from free allocation under the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the use of CBAM resources, would be dealt with through other legislation, but that a position on these issues would have to be found before discussions with the European Parliament could begin (see EUROPE 12910/14).
Thus, countries such as Slovakia, Malta and Finland finally supported the compromise, although they were opposed to it a few days ago. Poland, for its part, maintained its firm refusal to support the text, indicating the need to look at the mechanism in a broader perspective.
German Economy Minister Christian Lindner reiterated his desire to move towards a “climate club” or “carbon club”. This is also mentioned in France’s accompanying note and was welcomed by several Member States during the public session on the subject of CBAM.
Most Ministers used this exchange to also recall that it will be important to ensure that European companies remain internationally competitive after the entry into force of CBAM.
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The text’s rapporteur in Parliament, Mohammed Chahim, pointed to a compromise that leaves too many questions unanswered: “There are many positive elements in the general approach. But there is one big elephant in the room: when and at which pace will CBAM replace the free allowances?” He added that he could not agree with the EU Council on CBAM without more clarity on this issue.
Several NGOs have also already expressed their disappointment with the agreement. “Member States have only made cosmetic changes”, according to Anne Gläser, point person for CO2 pricing at the NGO GermanWatch. She regrets the lack of support for the least developed countries in the compromise text and the absence of a position on free quotas.
The think tank E3G shares this view. The day before, these two organisations had co-signed a letter with another 10 NGOs calling on Member States not to separate the discussions on the ETS from those on the CBAM.
MEP Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, France), Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, welcomed the agreement as an “important step”.
See the compromise text of the FPEU: https://aeur.eu/f/s4 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)