At the ‘Environment’ Council on Tuesday 16 December, Poland, supported by Estonia, Lithuania and Slovakia, requested an exemption for electricity transmission system operators (TSOs) from the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for unplanned electricity exchanges and emergency support, in particular for supplies to Ukraine, in the context of the war being waged by Russia.
From January 2026, CBAM will require the purchase of allowances for CO2 emissions from imported goods, including electricity. Poland has called for this targeted exemption for TSOs, which manage unplanned flows in order to guarantee network stability and avoid blackouts. It argues that subjecting this trade to CBAM would be costly, artificial and complex, with no tangible environmental benefit. It also proposes either to exclude TSOs from CBAM, or to provide free allowances for emergency and unforeseen exchanges (https://aeur.eu/f/k0l ).
The Commission has specified that the transit and movement of electricity are not subject to CBAM and that this mechanism “does not create obstacles” to importing electricity in the event of an emergency. It pointed out that since 2012 there have been no free allowances under the Emissions Trading System (ETS), and that these are only granted to certain operators who incur costs under the ETS, and not to electricity network operators. “Granting this type of free allowance would require a revision of the ETS Directive”, warned Jessika Roswall, European Commissioner for the Environment. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)