Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Recital 1: (1) Regulation (EU) 2023/956 of the European Parliament and of the Council3 was initially designed with a limited scope, covering those goods that are most exposed to the risk of carbon leakage and that are most carbon intensive. The scope of that Regulation should be gradually extended to cover products further down the value chain of the goods listed in Annex I to that Regulation, based on quantitative and transparent methodologies.

Recital 3: (3) As the CBAM aims to create incentives for the reduction of emissions by operators in third countries, the Union is committed to working with and supporting developing countries, in particular Lower Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) towards the decarbonisation of their manufacturing industries and, through new partnerships, the Union will work on the development of carbon pricing schemes and other decarbonisation measures. This is part of the external dimension of the European Green Deal5 and in line with the Paris Agreement6. The Union should continue to support those countries through dedicated financial mechanisms within the Union budget, and relevant international climate finance instruments, especially LDCs, in order to contribute to ensuring their adaptation to the obligations under this Regulation. The Union should continue to support climate mitigation and adaptation actions in these countries, including in their efforts towards the decarbonisation and transformation of their industries within the ceiling of the multi-annual financial framework and the financial support provided by the Union to international climate finance. This is further reinforced in the EU global climate and energy vision7, which indicates that the EU will engage proactively with partners to ensure better coherence between internal and external EU policies. While the CBAM gradually enters into application, the Union intends to strengthen partnerships and mult…

Recital 8: (8) Electricity flows from third countries resulting from actions that transmission system operators take to ensure the safe and secure operation of their networks and system security, including handling emergencies, balancing services and unscheduled or unintended exchange flows, should not be subject to this Regulation.

Recital 9: (9) Due recognition of the progress made by the relevant third countries towards market coupling of the electricity systems ensures that any time-limited exemptions as foreseen in this Regulation fully align with the strategic objectives of the Union and those third countries’ specific achievements. The efficient use of the existing electricity infrastructure and the integration of electricity markets of third countries into the internal electricity market of the Union is essential to reduce costs for both Member States and the relevant third countries, as well as to ensure security of supply. Such recognition should be put forward by means of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Commission and the third countries that have fully transposed the relevant electricity market acquis or as verified by the Commission through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), or when the third country has started the phased out approach for its participation, should the agreement provide for such a provision. Where a third country initiates the process of market integration to fully transpose the electricity market acquis, the Commission should be able to assess the possibility of concluding a Memorandum of Understanding with that third country prior to the completion of the full integration of that acquis. The Memorandum of Understanding should set the timeline for the application of the exemption foreseen in Regulation (EU) 2023/956, while considering adherence to relevant market rules…

Recital 9 a (new): (9a) In already integrated markets with partial alignment to the EU ETS, differences in scope with the CBAM can raise some practical uncertainties. In such cases, a Memorandum of Understanding can also help to clarify the application of the CBAM, ensure consistency, and support administrative cooperation, while contributing to closer coordination of emissions trading systems.

Recital 9 b (new): (9b) In order to ensure that the declaration of actual emissions for electricity imports under the CBAM reflects market realities, the conditions for using actual values should be further clarified. Where relevant data is available and based on verifiable information, those conditions should, where appropriate, be aligned with the market time unit used in electricity markets, take into account the consumption mix in a manner that reflects actual electricity flows, and, where feasible, consider whether and which technologies are increasing production for export to the Union.

Recital 10 a (new): (10a) During the transitional phase of the CBAM implementation, the Commission assessed the potential inclusion of additional sectors and scrap materials. To ensure a proportionate, effective and practicable application of the CBAM, a gradual and phased approach should be pursued, starting with products with simpler value chains or established EU ETS benchmarks, and progressively expanding the scope as technical feasibility, data availability, and monitoring capacity allow.

Recital 11 a (new): (11a) While the existing enforcement framework under Regulation (EU) 2023/956 addresses a range of avoidance risks, including the misclassification of goods, under-declaration of quantities, failure to submit the CBAM declarations, and the misapplication of de minimis thresholds, additional provisions are needed to effectively address the risks of abusive practices, prevent distortions of competition and ensure a level playing field.

Recital 12 a (new): (12a) Abusive practices can also occur in case of resource shuffling. Those practices can include, but are not limited to, situations whereby third countries or operators in these countries adapt to the CBAM by dedicating a limited number of installations to exports to the Union internal market, with or without dedicated investments in decarbonisation. Another possible relevant factor in assessing the high risk of abusive practices in the case of resource shuffling is the fact that these exports are not part of a country-wide effort to reduce emissions.

Recital 13: (13) In order to ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of Regulation (EU) 2023/956, the Commission should monitor the impact of the CBAM on the Union internal market with a view to assessing the risk of abusive practices undermining the effectiveness of the CBAM and the potential impact on the Union internal market, including through an analysis of customs import declarations and CBAM declarations or on the basis of any relevant source of information, including from Member States through exchanges in the Expert Group on the CBAM or other relevant exchanges. The identification of such practices should be based on transparent and objective criteria, trends in import volumes, the level and consistency of declared emissions from installations in third countries, economic incentives for operators to engage in abusive practices and the degree of heterogeneity in emission intensities of specific products.

Recital 13 a (new): (13a) The Commission should regularly assess the impact of the CBAM on the competitiveness of European energy industries and those exposed to international trade.

Recital 14: (14) To effectively address abusive practices, country-level default values should be applied systematically and ex ante to combinations of countries and goods defined as being at high risk of abusive practices, notably resource shuffling. To identify the combinations of goods and countries at high risk of abusive practices, the Commission should evaluate at least the following indicators: a higher heterogeneity of emission intensities, the ability to circumvent measures, the third country’s climate ambition and the risks of voluntary public intervention to re-allocate production. Operators and importers should retain the possibility to use actual values when they fulfil previously defined set of criteria, that confirm that they do not engage in abusive practices. The evidence to be provided should be designed in a proportionate manner and should not place unnecessary burden on operators and importers.

Recital 14 a (new): (14a) With a view to ensuring that operators in third countries are not subject to the application of default values for longer than necessary where abusive practices have ceased, the continued use of default values should be subject to regular assessment. In particular, the Commission should regularly assess, at least on an annual basis, whether the conditions justifying the application of default values continue to be met, by monitoring the carbon cost exposure applicable in the country to which those default values apply.

Recital 20 a (new): (20a) Cooperation and active engagement with third countries are essential to support the effective implementation of Regulation (EU) 2023/956, promote industrial decarbonisation, and foster the interoperability of carbon pricing systems and monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) practices. The Commission should report regularly on progress made and aim at building common principles, improving transparency, and achieving the mutual recognition of comparable systems. Furthermore, cooperation measures should support partner countries, in particular developing countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), in complying with CBAM requirements. In designing these measures, the Commission should take into account local capacity constraints.

Recital 21: deleted

Recital 32: (32) For certain goods, such as the clinker content of cement, the nitrogen content of fertilisers or the alloying elements of steel, the material and chemical compositions of the good is an important determining factor of the embedded emissions. To address the risk of misdeclaration of the embedded emissions determined on the basis of actual emissions for certain goods that are subject to a higher heterogeneity of emission intensities, the Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts to identify the material and chemical compositions of a good in the customs declaration, rules for laboratory sampling procedures to be carried out by national custom authorities.

Recital 36: (36) To prevent practices which could undermine the achievement of the objectives of the CBAM, the Commission should continuously monitor at Union level practices of circumvention consisting of artificially adjusting the supply chain of goods to avoid the obligations laid down in Regulation (EU) 2023/956. Furthermore, the Commission should continue to assess other anti-circumvention risks not yet addressed in Regulation (EU) 2023/956, and, where necessary, review and address such risks, in order to ensure a swift and effective response.

Recital 36 a (new): (36a) The exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances resulting from prolonged military conflict, and their severe impact on the economic and industrial infrastructure of affected regions, should be considered. In light of the evolving nature of that conflict and its potential economic consequences, the Commission should regularly assess whether the conditions for the application of Article 30(7) of Regulation (EU) 2023/956 are fulfilled, and, where appropriate, consider submitting a report accompanied by a legislative proposal providing for provisional measures. In that context, particular attention should be paid to the capacity of operators in affected regions to comply with the CBAM requirements, as well as to the broader objective of supporting economic resilience and decarbonisation.

Recital 36 b (new): (36b) The Commission should continuously monitor the carbon intensity of products falling under newly split Combined Nomenclature (CN) codes that originate from CN codes listed in Annexes I and VIII to Regulation (EU) 2023/956. The Commission, in the context of upcoming reviews, should assess, on an ongoing basis, the possibility of including such new codes within the scope of Annexes I and VIII to that Regulation.

Recital 37: deleted

Recital 40 a (new): (40a) As the extension of the CBAM to downstream products covers goods intended for final consumers, there is a risk of distortion of competition between economic operators established in the Union importing consumer goods subject to the CBAM and online platforms facilitating distance sales of the same goods from third countries, which would not be subject to equivalent obligations. This unlevel playing field creates a loophole that is liable to undermine both fair competition and the environmental integrity of the mechanism. Since online platforms are thereby already designated as importers for distance sales under the reformed Union Customs Code, whether acting in their own name or through an appointed representative assuming that status, it is appropriate to provide that such importers for distance sales, or their appointed representatives where applicable, equally assume the status of authorised CBAM declarant. They should be responsible, in that capacity, for declaring the totality of aggregated imports of CBAM goods facilitated over the course of a year and for surrendering the corresponding CBAM certificates. In such a case, the importer is therefore the importer for distance sales, and not the final consumer.

Recital 45 a (new): (45a) Given the current dispersion in the use of indirect cost compensation across Member States, which risks undermining the uniform application of carbon pricing, the Commission should assess the technical and policy options.

Recital 47 a (new): (47a) The Commission should publish the default values referred to in Regulation (EU) 2023/956 in a timely manner before their application. Those default values should be regularly reviewed and, where appropriate, updated on the basis of the most recent reliable and publicly available data and in accordance with transparent and robust methodologies.

Recital 50: deleted

Recital 50 a (new): (50a) The implications of Regulation (EU) 2023/956 for the Union budget have been assessed+ pursuant to Article 310(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Sufficient financial and human resources should be provided for its implementation, while considering the impact of the financing on other Union programmes or policies and ensuring its compatibility with the multiannual financial framework, the system of own resources and the corresponding interinstitutional agreement, as well as with the budgetary principles laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council. / + Pro memoria: Budgetary assessment of the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets of 23 June 2026 on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as regards the extension of its scope to downstream goods and anti-circumvention measures (COM(2025)0989). / [1] Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ L, 2024/2509, 26.9.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/2509/oj).

Regulation (EU) 2023/956

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 – point a a (new), Article 2 – paragraph 3 a – point b a (new): (aa) in paragraph 3a, the following point is added: / '(ba) electricity flows originating from third countries, resulting from actions undertaken by transmission system operators to ensure the secure and stable operation of their networks, including unscheduled or unintended exchange flows, use of balancing services and handling emergencies.';

Regulation (EU) 2023/956

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 – point c, Article 2 – paragraph 7 a – subparagraph 2: The Memorandum of Understanding referred to in the first subparagraph shall set the timeline for the application of the exemption foreseen in Article 2(7), taking into account the target date for accession and aligning with the Union’s enlargement policy towards the relevant third country, and the timeline for the implementation of a carbon pricing instrument equivalent to the EU ETS, insofar as electricity generation is concerned. Where a third country initiates the process of market integration to fully transpose the electricity market acquis, the Commission may assess the possibility of concluding a Memorandum of Understanding with that third country prior to the completion of the full integration of that acquis;

Regulation (EU) 2023/956

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 – point d a (new), Article 2 – paragraph 9 – point c a (new): (da) in paragraph 9, the following point is added: / '(ca) the Commission has evidence that the exemption has resulted in the indirect importation into the Union of energy from sources subject to Union restrictive measures.';

Regulation (EU) 2023/956

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 – point d b (new), Article 2 – paragraph 9 a (new): (db) the following paragraph is inserted: / '9a. The Commission shall make available on their website and update, as relevant, at least on an annual basis, all agreements, Memoranda of Understanding, roadmaps, commitments, and strategies referred to in paragraphs 7 and 7a, the full list of Union law covered by such documents, and the Commission’s assessments of the progress towards or the fulfilment of the conditions set out in paragraph 7 prior to the signing of the Memoranda of Understanding referred to in paragraph 7a and prior to the listing of the third countries in point 2 of Annex III referred to in paragraph 8.';

Regulation (EU) 2023/956