Environment

European Parliament delays decision to introduce carbon border tax – CBAM

European Parliament delays decision carbon border tax CBAM

Photo: Guillaume Périgois on Unsplash

Published

June 8, 2022

Country

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

June 8, 2022

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

In a surprise vote, members of the European Parliament rejected a set of law proposals within the Fit-for-55 climate package, including the assembly’s position on negotiations to introduce the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism – a carbon tax for imported commodities and electricity.

The revision of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is on hold for now. The European Parliament voted against the proposal to include other sectors of the economy like buildings and shipping and increase the scope of the scheme to a total of 61% of greenhouse emissions in the EU, from the current 43%.

Namely, the original motion was to adopt 67% as the negotiating position, but a compromise to ease the rule was later achieved. In turn, it led the social democratic and green groups – who are in favor of a more ambitious target – and the far right to withdraw support.

The failure of the main proposal took down the CBAM and Social Climate Fund legislation with it

The motion was then returned to the relevant committee for further discussions. The surprise outcome also spelled failure for the legislation on the related introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism or CBAM – essentially a carbon tax for imported commodities and electricity, and the Social Climate Fund, which would use revenues from the EU ETS to assist the vulnerable population.

The key part of the legislation was supposed to lead to a cut in the number of carbon emission allowances by 70 million in 2024 and 50 million in 2026. The European Commission originally proposed to pull out 117 million carbon credits in 2024. The Fit-for-55 package is envisaged to reduce emissions by 2030 by 55%.

The European Parliament adopted a negotiating position that all new cars and vans will need to have zero emissions by 2035 at the latest

The CBAM is likely to impact countries like the Western Balkans and Turkey financially. The scheme is supposed to pressure them to accelerate decarbonization, particularly in the energy sector, as it affects electricity production and energy-intensive industries, including steel and cement.

In a separate plenary vote, MEPs adopted their position on proposed rules to revise the CO2 emissions performance standards for new cars and vans. With the adopted text for negotiations with member states, they supported the measures designed by the European Commission to reach zero emission road mobility by 2035. Intermediate emissions reduction targets for 2030 would be set at 55% for cars and 50% for light commercial vehicles.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

Three cities reviving protests against Rio Tinto lithium project Jadar in Serbia

Three cities reviving protests against Rio Tinto’s lithium project in Serbia

20 July 2025 - Opponents of Rio Tinto's plan to mine and process a lithium and boron ore called jadarite in western Serbia held a protest in Loznica

bih epbih waste incineration tpp tuzla trial

BiH’s power utility EPBiH cancels waste co-incineration trial in Tuzla coal plant

18 July 2025 - Power utility Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine aborted a waste co-incineration test at its Tuzla coal power plant

Belgrade in focus challenges and solutions for sustainable urban development Ivan Gazdic cms

Belgrade in focus: challenges and solutions for sustainable urban development

17 July 2025 - The author of the feature is Ivan Gazdić, Attorney at Law and Partner at Petrikić & Partneri AOD in cooperation with CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz

Successful completion of the WISE serbia mentorship program trust, support, and personal transformation

WISE Serbia mentorship program successfully completed: trust, support, and personal growth

24 June 2025 - The first mentorship program of the WISE Serbia women’s network in sustainable energy, the green economy, and climate action was successfully concluded with an event held in Belgrade