Peter Liese: Inclusion of additional products / Measures against circumvention of the rules via ‘resource shuffling’ / Solution for exports / CBAM remains extremely important for climate protection

On Wednesday, the European Commission presented its long-awaited proposal for the revision of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). CBAM had already been freed from bureaucracy with the omnibus simplification package. Now, further urgently needed changes are being proposed.

MEP Peter Liese, spokesperson for climate and environment policy of the EPP group in the European Parliament, said: “The Commission's proposal is very, very helpful. CBAM is an extremely important instrument for protecting our industry and is already having a positive impact on climate protection in other countries. Many third countries are introducing emissions trading systems or tightening existing ones. In many cases, the formal justification given for this is CBAM. US Senator Whitehouse described the European CBAM as the last lifeboat for climate protection.

However, the existing regulations need to be improved. Products that consist of 99% steel, for example, and are not currently covered by the CBAM must be included. In addition, so-called ‘resource shuffling’ must be avoided. It is unacceptable for third countries such as China to not increase the proportion of green steel at all, but simply to send green steel to Europe and use dirty steel in their own country. In addition, the European Commission is making very concrete proposals on how to support exports in the CBAM sectors. We will discuss the proposal carefully but swiftly. During the negotiations in 2021-2023, the EPP insisted that CBAM is introduced cautiously. On 1st January, free allowances will only be reduced by 2.5%. This is now proving to be a wise move, as improvements can be made before CBAM actually has any serious effects.”

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