The committee adopted its opinion on the proposed amendments to the CBAM with 56 votes in favour, 11 against and 12 abstentions. It also approved its opinion on the proposed Temporary Decarbonisation Fund (TDF), which is intended to support the industry's low-carbon transition, by 59 votes in favour, 16 against and six abstentions.
The committee proposed strengthening anti-circumvention rules to prevent companies from making minor modifications to goods in order to avoid CBAM obligations.
MEPs also supported granting the European Commission the authority to apply default values for the actual country of origin in cases of circumvention.
The Commission's proposed safeguard mechanism, which would allow certain products to be temporarily excluded from the CBAM in the event of price shocks, was rejected. Instead, the committee proposed a mechanism that would temporarily redirect CBAM revenues to the affected sectors.
The committee also proposed new rules for online imports, including the introduction of seller-based weight thresholds, new reporting requirements and retroactive liability for shipments artificially split to remain below the threshold.
While supporting a simplified reporting framework and technical assistance for least developed countries, the committee removed the Commission's proposal to allow carbon credits issued under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to count towards CBAM obligations.
Decarbonisation fund to be expanded
The committee proposed extending support from the Temporary Decarbonisation Fund to cover the 2027-2029 period, rather than starting only in 2028 as originally proposed by the Commission.
It also called for the fund to cover fertiliser producers and downstream users affected by carbon costs, with urea, ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulphate added to the list of eligible products.
MEPs further proposed that all downstream industries using CBAM-covered products in their production processes should be eligible for support from the fund. They also suggested that any remaining revenues in the fund should be allocated to the EU's international climate finance commitments under the Paris Agreement, rather than being redistributed among member states.
Next step in September
CBAM rapporteur Mohammed Chahim said the adopted amendments would make the mechanism stronger, fairer and more resilient by broadening its scope and strengthening enforcement measures.
Temporary Decarbonisation Fund rapporteur Pascal Canfin said the proposals would enhance Europe's competitiveness, introduce stronger measures against circumvention, particularly involving Chinese products, provide additional support for the fertiliser sector and help protect EU companies operating in export markets.
The European Parliament is expected to vote during its September plenary session on whether to grant a mandate to begin negotiations with EU member states on the draft legislation.
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