On May 13, the ENVI Committee of the European Parliament voted on the CBAM simplification proposal, which the Commission presented as part of the Omnibus package on February 26. The Commission proposal in particular simplifies CBAM for small importers, by introducing a de minimis exemption of 50 tonnes mass. These proposed changes entail the exclusion of 90% of CBAM importers, while still keeping 99% of imports in CBAM’s scope.
The vote in ENVI supported the 50 tonnes de minimis threshold, adopting only a number of technical amendments for clarification purposes. The text was adopted with 85 votes in favour, 1 against and 1 abstention.
After the vote, rapporteur and ENVI Chair Antonion Decaro (S&D, Italy) stated the following: “A majority in the committee agreed to limit amendments to the specific proposals by the Commission and to not reopen other provisions of the CBAM legislation, which is so crucial to prevent carbon leakage. This approach enables us to simplify matters for companies without dismantling or weakening the CBAM. We will continue to work as fast as possible to bring legal clarity and certainty to all CBAM stakeholders.”
Source: European Parliament
