EU considering Montenegro’s proposals for changes to CBAM

Minister of Energy and Mining of Montenegro Admir Šahmanović met with several senior officials of the European Commission. The messages in Brussels regarding the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) were encouraging – changes in the regulation are being considered, including Montenegro’s demands, according to the ministry.

Minister of Energy and Mining of Montenegro Admir Šahmanović led a delegation that visited the European Commission’s headquarters. They met with Director General for Taxation and Customs Union Thomas Gerassimos, Deputy Director-General for Climate Action Jan Dusík and Director for Western Balkans Valentina Superti and Head of the Unit for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro Barbara Jésus-Gimeno, both from the Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood.

The focus of the discussions was on key processes in the energy sector and especially on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is currently Montenegro’s main priority, the ministry said. Šahmanović presented the reforms that the country conducted and stressed that the government is almost entirely aligned with its European requirements in the legal and strategic sense.

CBAM is now Montenegro’s priority

Over the last eight months, Montenegro adopted a new Law on Energy alongside dozens of bylaws, including some tied to the Law on the Use of Energy from Renewable Sources. The government launched the first renewable energy auction, for solar power, and signed a memorandum of understanding on market coupling with Italy, with which talks continue on the construction of the second wire in the undersea cable. Laws on cross-border energy exchange and the construction of cross-border energy assets are drafted, the update adds.

The minister said Montenegro is finalizing its National Energy and Climate Plan.

More flexible models for CBAM to be considered

The European Commission’s representatives acknowledged Montenegro’s progress and asserted that it is in the lead in the region as concerns the degree of compliance in the energy sphere, the ministry said.

“Within the same context it was agreed that discussions would be continued on a technical level in the following weeks to consider the possible, more flexible models of applying CBAM and to enable candidate states to adjust to the mechanism faster and more efficiently. A special focus will be on the elaboration of compromise solutions – especially the ones that enable a gradual, just and predictable implementation, with a minimal burden on the Montenegrin energy sector, which is significantly reliant on electricity exports,” the update reads.

EU’s cross-border tax on greenhouse gases to have weaker impact than in earlier projections

The European Commission conveyed encouraging messages: a smaller impact from CBAM is expected than in earlier projections, and amendments to the regulation are being considered, including demands from Montenegro from the consultations, according to the ministry.

Minister Šahmanović said Montenegro is remaining fully dedicated to its European obligations, but that it expects an acknowledgment of the results that it achieved, so that the implementation of CBAM is harmonized with the realities of the country’s energy system and its strong renewables investment cycle.