The third interinstitutional meeting (‘trilogue’) on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) was held on Tuesday 8 November and made progress on a major issue in the text, namely governance.
Negotiators have agreed on a system where both the Member States and the European Commission will have a role in managing and implementing CBAM, according to two European sources. The last trilogue had already made progress on this issue (see EUROPE 13035/20).
Negotiations on this matter are only temporarily closed, in line with the logic of “nothing is concluded until the whole text is concluded”. However, negotiators welcome this step, which gives them confidence that the CBAM negotiations will be concluded on 12 December at the next trilogue meeting.
Discussions took place at the 8 November meeting on the scope and possible extension of CBAM, but further discussions and analysis are still needed before an agreement can be reached, according to a source close to the matter.
The issue of when and how quickly free emission allowances will be phased out of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) also remains to be resolved, but is being addressed as a priority in the ETS negotiations. The next trilogue on this text is scheduled for 10 November (see EUROPE B13058A5).
Several of those involved in the negotiations have expressed a desire to conclude an agreement on CBAM before the end of the Czech Presidency on 31 December, and a growing number of people believe that this is a reasonable timeframe. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)