EU regulationen
Frontier carbon adjustment (CBAM)
An EU mechanism applying a carbon price to imports of carbon-intensive products to combat carbon leakage.
The CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, Regulation 2023/956) is an EU climate policy instrument designed to equalise the carbon price between products made in the EU (subject to the EU ETS) and imported products.
The dual objective is to:
- Combat carbon leakage: prevent relocation of production to countries with weaker climate constraints
- Encourage third countries to adopt carbon pricing mechanisms
CBAM operates in parallel with the progressive phase-out of free EU ETS allowances:
- 2023-2025: transitional phase (reporting only)
- 2026: start of CBAM certificate purchases, free allowances reduced by 2.5 %
- 2026-2034: progressive ramp-up
- 2034: end of free allowances, CBAM at 100 %
Importers must register as authorised CBAM declarants and report quarterly (transitional) then annually (definitive) the embedded emissions in their imports.
The carbon price effectively paid in the country of origin is deductible, respecting the principle of non-discrimination and WTO rules.