Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: extension of its scope to downstream goods and anti-circumvention measures

✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 18 Sept 2026

Parliament's amended version of a proposed regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2023/956 on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), extending it to downstream goods and adding anti-circumvention measures.¶¶ It adds rules on resource shuffling, default values for high-risk goods and origins, and treatment of pre-consumer aluminium and steel scrap in embedded emissions.¶¶¶ It brings importers for distance sales into the CBAM as authorised declarants and sets a single mass-based threshold of 5 tonnes of net mass for aluminium products.¶¶¶ It provides temporary derogations for outermost regions, simplified reporting for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and technical assistance and international cooperation on carbon pricing.¶¶¶

Key points

The scope of Regulation (EU) 2023/956 should be gradually extended to products further down the value chain of Annex I goods, based on quantitative and transparent methodologies.¶
The Union commits to supporting developing countries, in particular Lower Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), through dedicated financial mechanisms and international climate finance.¶
Electricity flows from third countries resulting from transmission system operators' actions for network and system security, including balancing services and unscheduled flows, are excluded from the regulation.¶¶
Memoranda of Understanding with third countries set the timeline for electricity exemptions, aligned with enlargement policy and carbon pricing implementation; the Commission may assess such agreements before full market integration.¶¶
A temporary, product-specific derogation may be granted for operators in outermost regions, subject to a Commission assessment and a binding transition plan.¶¶
Default values should be applied systematically and ex ante to combinations of countries and goods at high risk of abusive practices, notably resource shuffling, based on indicators such as emission intensity heterogeneity and climate ambition.¶
A single default value applies to all unwrought aluminium, based on the average CO2 intensity of primary aluminium production in the country of smelting, without differentiation between primary and secondary routes.¶
Emissions of pre-consumer aluminium scrap are taken into account for embedded emissions; pre-consumer steel scrap emissions are reported but not counted; importers must provide evidence for post-consumer scrap claims.¶¶¶
Importers for distance sales, or their appointed representatives, assume the status of authorised CBAM declarant and are responsible for declaring aggregated imports and surrendering certificates.¶¶¶
The Commission shall monitor imports by distance sellers for artificial splitting of transactions and may apply default values retroactively where circumvention is established.¶¶
The Commission shall adopt implementing acts on simplified reporting for LDCs and shall provide technical assistance and capacity-building to developing countries on monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) and carbon pricing.¶¶
The Commission shall regularly assess the impact of the CBAM on competitiveness, the mass-based threshold, indirect emissions, and the possibility of extending scope to chemicals, petrochemicals and new Combined Nomenclature (CN) codes.¶¶¶

Who is affected

Importers of CBAM goods, including importers for distance sales, who must register as authorised CBAM declarants and report aggregated imports.¶¶¶
Operators in outermost regions, who may receive a temporary derogation from CBAM obligations under conditions.¶¶
Developing countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), which receive technical assistance and simplified reporting obligations.¶¶¶
Third countries with electricity market coupling or carbon pricing systems, which may conclude Memoranda of Understanding with the Commission.¶¶¶
EU producers of aluminium and steel, affected by rules on scrap and default values.¶¶¶

Figures and deadlines

The single mass-based threshold for aluminium products is set at 5 tonnes of net mass.¶
A temporary derogation for outermost regions is granted for a period of four years.¶
The Commission shall assess by 30 April of each calendar year whether the mass-based threshold excludes goods representing more than 2% of embedded emissions under a CN code.¶
The Commission shall report every three years to the European Parliament and the Council on international cooperation on carbon pricing.¶
Repayment for repurchased CBAM certificates shall be disbursed by 31 December of the same year at the latest.¶

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