The Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety adopted its position on proposed changes to the CBAM by 56 to 11, with 12 abstentions.

The MEPs agree with the Commission’s proposal to extend the scope of CBAM beyond basic materials to a long list of downstream products – finished steel and aluminium goods such as fasteners, wire, springs and household articles – but insist it must be based on transparent, quantitative methodologies. They also added an exemption for electricity flows from non-EU countries used by grid operators to keep networks stable.

Closing loopholes

On anti-circumvention rules, the MEPs clarified that the practice of “slightly modifying” goods must also cover slight processing and tightened the rule so it targets only arrangements set up purely to dodge CBAM, and not normal business decisions to lower a company’s costs.

They also empowered the Commission to apply the true country of origin’s default values where a pattern of circumvention is…