Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

The legal Framework of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) - Regulation (EU) 2023(956) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 16 May 2013. With CBAM, the EU, at the first sstage aims to equalize the carbon price of domestic and imported products of the following sectors: cement, iron-steel, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen and electricity. 

The enactment process of the "Fit for 55" package which aims to make the EU fit for delivering the updated reduction target for 2030 has been completed. The package contains legal arrangements on the EU’ 2030 climate and energy framework, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, emission standards for new cars and vans, land use and forestry, alternative energy infrastructure, legislation on effort sharing, Emissions Trading System. The Framework legislation on the CBAM is also included therein.

In the field of climate action, to enshrine the 2050 climate-neutrality objective into EU acquis, the European Climate Law was adopted on 30 June 2021 (published in the Official Journal of the EU on 9 July 2021). The Law aims to ensure that all EU policies contribute to the climate-neutrality objective and that all sectors of the economy and society play their part. As foreseen in the Climate Law and the European Green Deal, the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions target for 2030 was updated as “at least %55 reduction compared to 1990 levels” and was submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as the EU’s new contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement in December 2020. The European Commission’s recommendation on the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions target for 2040, %90 reduction compared to 1990 levels, has been announced on 6 February 2024.