France, Italy and Slovakia demanded the EU amend its carbon border levy this year to simplify the rules for businesses covered by the scheme, a Reuters report said.
The European Commission has proposed changes that would exempt 90 per cent of the companies from the carbon border tax (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism). From 2026 EU will impose additional costs on imports of CO2-heavy goods including steel and cement.
The goal of the policy is to protect European producers from cheaper competitors in countries that have less ambitious climate legislation, and to prevent them from shifting their investments to other countries, such as the U.S. where the Trump Administration is aggressively rollingback regulation.
France and Italy, Europe’s second- and third largest economies, demanded that Brussels go further to reduce the administrative rules of the policy. In a paper jointly published by France, Italy, and Slovakia, they suggested that companies could use standardised calculations to calculate the emissions of goods.
They said that this would reduce the burden of reporting for the companies affected by the rules. This is in line with broader calls made by some governments and business for Brussels to reduce red tape to assist struggling industries to regain their competitive edge.
The paper stated that “the complexity of the system can cause delays and an increase in operational and management costs for European firms.”
In the few months individual countries must negotiate and approve the Commission’s proposed changes to the carbon border tariff in the coming months – giving them an opportunity to make further changes to the rules.
The three countries said Brussels should also consider giving European exporters free CO2 permits, to help them compete in global markets with rivals that do not pay pollution costs.
