globaltaxnews.ey.comSign up for tax alert emailsPrintDownload | ||||||
23 December 2025 European Commission publishes provisional Implementing Acts and their Annexes regarding CBAM
On 17 December 2025, the European Commission published a comprehensive package of provisional documents to define the definitive Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) regime of the European Union (EU) starting January 2026. The release includes 11 legislative acts, comprising implementing and delegated regulations, proposals and amendments, and 13 supplementary documents such as technical annexes, impact assessments and supporting materials. And, on 23 December 2025 a subset of 8 (out of the 11) legal acts was officially published in the EU public journal. The remaining acts should follow soon. These publications provide the legal, technical and procedural framework for CBAM's next phase. The documents address calculation methodologies for embedded emissions, customs and registry processes, verification and accreditation standards, certificate pricing and the extension of CBAM's scope to additional goods and anti-circumvention measures. Together, these materials set out the requirements and processes that manufacturers outside the EU, importers (authorized declarants) and other stakeholders, like accredited verifiers, must follow to comply with CBAM from 2026 onward.
This document sets out the legal framework for a Temporary Decarbonization Fund, a new EU instrument designed to provide targeted, temporary financial support to energy-intensive EU established industries at risk of carbon leakage as free allocation under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) is phased out. The Fund will be financed by 25% of the EU Member States' revenues from the sale of CBAM certificates and will support decarbonization investments for eligible operators producing goods with a heightened risk of carbon leakage. The regulation details the Fund's governance, eligibility criteria, application and disbursement procedures, and monitoring requirements, ensuring that support is conditional on concrete decarbonization actions and aligned with broader EU climate objectives.
This annex lists the goods eligible for support by the Temporary Decarbonization Fund under the CBAM framework. It provides detailed Combined Nomenclature (CN) codes for products in the aluminum, fertilizers, iron, and steel sectors, specifying which goods can benefit from the fund. The document serves as a technical reference for businesses and authorities to identify covered goods, ensuring clarity and consistency in CBAM application.
This is the official legislative proposal from the European Commission to amend the existing CBAM Regulation (EU 2023/956). The proposal aims to strengthen the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism by extending its scope to include a larger portfolio of selected steel and aluminum-intensive downstream products, including a new category called "combined metal products." Though the vast majority of tariff lines covered concern components or industrial goods (e.g. a large range of automotive an machinery goods like gear boxes, machinery, wires, bodies for vehicles, metal furniture, etc.) there are also some end-consumer products (e.g., washing machines, drying machines, freezers, household articles). In total, 180 additional tariff lines in the EU's Combined Nomenclature are added. The EU Commission expects that under consideration of the mass-based exemption from CBAM obligations additional 7,500 importers will become subject to CBAM as a result of the extension of the product scope. It introduces additional anti-circumvention measures designed to prevent avoidance practices, such as the misdeclaration of emission intensities and the artificial redesign of supply chains to benefit from lower default values. The proposal also makes the rules for electricity imports clearer by making the methodology for attributing emissions more accurate and flexible, particularly in recognizing decarbonization efforts in third countries. It is also a fundamental change that pre-consumer aluminum and steel scrap shall be considered a CBAM-relevant precursor for the embedded emissions calculation. Developed based on extensive consultations and a detailed impact assessment, the proposal identifies preferred policy options for downstream extension, anti-avoidance and electricity. It outlines a phased implementation, with key changes for electricity beginning in 2026 and the product downstream extension from 2028, supported by robust monitoring and regular reporting to the European Parliament and Council. The document also includes a legislative financial and digital statement, detailing the budgetary implications, staffing needs, IT requirements, and the architecture of the CBAM Registry and related digital systems. The EU Commission may also provide a legislative proposal on the extension of CBAM to additional product categories (e.g., plastics, chemicals). Also, as part of the tools that the EU Commission will have to combat circumvention, additional tariff lines might in the future be added to the scope of CBAM goods at a rather short notice. This document is the first part of the comprehensive impact assessment accompanying the proposal to amend the CBAM Regulation, focusing on the extension of its scope to downstream goods and anti-circumvention measures. It provides the political and legal context, defines the core problems (downstream carbon leakage, CBAM avoidance and ineffective treatment of electricity imports) and explains why EU-level action is necessary. The report sets out the general and specific objectives, describes the available policy options (including baseline, downstream extension, anti-avoidance and electricity options),and details the impacts of each. It includes a comparative analysis of the options using effectiveness, efficiency and proportionality criteria, and identifies the preferred options for each policy strand. The document also outlines how the impacts will be monitored and evaluated and provides a glossary of key terms. This part is essential for understanding the rationale, policy choices, and expected outcomes of the proposed CBAM amendments. This document is the second part of the detailed impact assessment accompanying the proposal to amend the CBAM Regulation, focusing on the extension to downstream goods and anti-circumvention measures. It provides in-depth procedural information, a comprehensive summary of stakeholder consultations and a thorough analysis of who is affected and how. Key annexes cover economic modeling methods, competitiveness checks, impacts on small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), compliance and enforcement costs, and additional technical information on downstream sectors, CBAM avoidance, and electricity. The report quantifies the expected benefits (such as reduced carbon leakage and increased revenue), outlines the administrative and compliance costs for businesses and authorities, and details the methodology for selecting downstream goods at risk of carbon leakage. It also presents sensitivity analyses, sectoral impacts, and the rationale for the preferred policy options. This document is essential for understanding the technical, economic, and administrative implications of the proposed CBAM amendments.
These annexes provide the technical details supporting the legislative proposal to extend the CBAM to downstream goods and introduce anti-circumvention measures. Annex I amends the list of iron and steel products covered by CBAM and introduces a new table for combined metal products, specifying the relevant CN codes and associated greenhouse gases which are to be considered for calculation of the product specific CBAM embedded emissions. Annex II updates the calculation methods for embedded emissions in complex goods, clarifies definitions (such as for power purchase agreements), and revises the rules for default emission values for electricity imports. Annex III adds a new list of non-CBAM goods and greenhouse gases considered as input materials (precursors), focusing on iron, steel and aluminum waste and scrap. These annexes are essential for understanding the expanded product scope and technical methodologies under the revised CBAM framework. This executive summary outlines the impact assessment for the proposal to amend the CBAM Regulation, focusing on extending its scope to downstream goods and introducing anti-circumvention measures. The document identifies three main issues: (1) downstream carbon leakage, (2) CBAM avoidance and (3) insufficient incentives for decarbonizing electricity imports. It evaluates policy options for each strand and supports a package that targets downstream goods at risk of carbon leakage, strengthens anti-avoidance provisions and revises the methodology for electricity imports. The preferred options are expected to deliver clear environmental benefits, minimal macroeconomic costs and only moderate administrative burdens, particularly for SMEs. The assessment also highlights broad stakeholder support for these changes and notes that the policy will be reviewed regularly as part of the CBAM's ongoing implementation.
This staff working document provides the subsidiarity and proportionality analysis supporting the proposal to extend the CBAM to downstream goods and introduce anti-circumvention measures. It explains why EU-level action is necessary, highlighting that the risks of downstream carbon leakage, CBAM avoidance and limited decarbonization incentives for electricity imports are cross-border issues that cannot be effectively addressed by Member States acting alone. The document details the legal basis, consultation process and the rationale for targeted, proportionate adjustments to the CBAM, emphasizing that coordinated EU action ensures a level playing field, legal clarity and greater environmental effectiveness.
This is the official review report on how the EU CBAM has been implemented during its transitional period (October 2023 to year-end 2025). The report evaluates CBAM's effectiveness in addressing carbon leakage, promoting global carbon pricing, and improving emissions monitoring for imported goods. It covers governance, administration, enforcement, and international cooperation, and sets out the roadmap for the definitive CBAM regime starting in 2026.
Annex 1 describes the EU's communication campaign for CBAM, including outreach activities and statistics on webinars held for different sectors (cement, aluminum, fertilizers, electricity, hydrogen, iron and steel), showing how the Commission engaged stakeholders and informed the public. Annex 2 details technical assistance (TAIEX) provided to neighboring and candidate countries to help them align with EU climate and CBAM rules. It lists workshops, expert missions and study visits, demonstrating the EU's efforts to build capacity and foster cooperation on decarbonization. Annex 3 explains the methodology used to model CBAM's impact on third countries, including the economic model (JRC-GEM-E3), sectoral breakdown and how emission intensities are calculated. It provides transparency on how the Commission assesses the effects of CBAM internationally. Annex 4 presents data from the CBAM transitional registry, including statistics on imports, emissions and reporting accuracy. It shows how data quality improved over time and provides detailed figures by sector and country.
This delegated regulation sets out the detailed rules for how verifiers are accredited, supervised, and potentially have their accreditation withdrawn under the CBAM system. It describes the procedures for granting accreditation, the requirements verifiers must meet and how national accreditation bodies should oversee and control verifiers' activities. The regulation also covers mutual recognition and peer evaluation of accreditation bodies across the EU, ensuring that verifiers accredited in one Member State are recognized in others. The goal is to ensure that only competent, impartial and reliable verifiers operate under CBAM, with consistent oversight and information exchange between authorities. The regulation applies from 1 January 2026.
This document is an annex to a delegated regulation under the CBAM framework. It sets out the technical details for how verifiers are accredited and supervised. The first annex lists the types of goods and activities for which verifiers can be approved, such as cement, steel, aluminum, hydrogen, electricity and related processes. The second annex describes what is required from verifiers, including their qualifications, how they must ensure impartiality and the procedures they need to follow to carry out their work. The text covers everything from competence requirements and ongoing training to how verifiers should handle conflicts of interest, quality management and the steps involved in the actual verification process.
This Implementing Regulation sets out the principles and procedures for verifying the embedded emissions declared under the CBAM, as required by Regulation (EU) 2023/956. It details the requirements for physical and virtual site visits by verifiers, the conditions under which site visits may be waived, and the use of materiality thresholds for assessing misstatements and nonconformities in emissions data. The Regulation also introduces a standardized electronic template for verification reports and specifies that these rules will apply from 1 January 2026.
This annex provides the required content for verification reports under the CBAM system in form of a template. It specifies what information must be included by verifiers when confirming the emissions data of an installation, such as identification details, team members, site visits, the basis and scope of verification, data on emissions and precursors, and the final verification statement. The annex ensures that all verification reports are consistent, comprehensive, and meet the regulatory requirements for CBAM compliance.
This implementing regulation updates and amends the rules for the CBAM registry, the central electronic system for managing CBAM declarations, accounts and related data. The document aligns the registry's procedures with recent legislative changes, clarifies who can access and use the registry (including delegated representatives and verifiers) and updates technical references to customs and IT systems. It also introduces new provisions for monitoring mass-based thresholds, customs communication, and the exchange of information between the Commission, national authorities and customs.
This implementing regulation updates and amends the rules for how importers apply for, maintain or lose authorized CBAM declarant status. It reflects recent legislative changes that simplify procedures, adjust deadlines, and allow competent authorities to use digital tools for retrieving information. The document also clarifies the process for revoking authorization, the timing for surrendering CBAM certificates, and corrects technical references in the previous regulation.
This regulation describes how EU customs authorities must report information about CBAM-relevant imports to the European Commission. It specifies the types of data to be communicated, such as identification numbers, product codes, quantities and origin, and outlines the procedures for transmitting and validating this information using existing customs systems or alternative methods. The regulation addresses special customs procedures and requests for additional documents, in addition to ensuring compliance with data protection standards. These rules will apply from 1 January 2026 and are scheduled for review by 2027.
This regulation sets out the official EU rules for how companies must calculate and report the greenhouse gas emissions that are embedded in goods imported into the European Union under the CBAM. It explains which products are covered, how to define and measure emissions, and what data needs to be collected and reported. The document describes both the use of actual emissions data and default values and provides guidance for handling complex goods that use multiple precursors. It also outlines the requirements for monitoring plans and emissions reports, ensuring that all companies follow the same transparent and consistent methods. In short, this regulation is the technical foundation for CBAM compliance, helping importers understand exactly what is expected when reporting the carbon footprint of their products.
This annex is the official technical guide for the EU's CBAM. It sets out, in detail, how companies must calculate and report the greenhouse gas emissions that are embedded in products like steel, cement, fertilizers, aluminum, electricity and chemicals when these goods are imported into the European Union. The document explains which products are covered, defines all the important terms, and describes the step-by-step methods for measuring emissions — whether through direct measurement, calculations or using default values. It also outlines what data needs to be collected, how to ensure its accuracy and what information must be included in the reports submitted to authorities. In short, this annex ensures that everyone follows the same rules for carbon reporting under CBAM, making the process transparent and consistent for all importers.
This regulation explains how the European Commission sets default values for carbon emissions in imported goods, as required by the CBAM law. These values are used when actual emissions data is missing or unreliable.
This annex provides the detailed methodology and data tables that support the Commission Implementing Regulation on default values under the CBAM. It explains how emission factors and mark-ups are calculated for different goods and electricity imports.
This draft regulation sets out the rules for calculating the adjustment to the number of CBAM certificates that importers must surrender, reflecting the phase-out of free allowances under the EU ETS. The regulation explains that the "free allocation adjustment" must take into account the quantity of imported goods, the cross-sectoral correction factor, the relevant CBAM factor and the appropriate EU ETS benchmarks for each product. The calculation can be based on either actual emissions data or default values, depending on what is reported in the CBAM declaration. Special rules are provided for complex goods that use precursors from multiple installations. The document also clarifies that no free allocation adjustment applies to electricity imports and that the rules will apply from 1 January 2026, with a review scheduled for 2027.
This annex provides the technical rules and data tables for calculating the adjustment to the number of CBAM certificates that importers must surrender, based on free allocation under the EU ETS. It details the formulas, definitions and benchmarks used to determine the carbon content of imported goods and the corresponding adjustment. The includes step-by-step calculation methods for the free allocation adjustment, using both actual emissions data and default values, and rules for simple and complex goods, including how to account for emissions from precursors. Additionally it contains detailed benchmark tables for a wide range of products (cement, hydrogen, fertilizers, iron, steel, aluminum, etc.), specifying the carbon intensity values to be used in calculations and a guidance on selecting the correct benchmark depending on product type, production route and country of origin.
This Implementing Regulation establishes the methodology for calculating and publishing the price of CBAM certificates, ensuring that the price closely reflects the average auction clearing price of EU ETS allowances. For 2026, the price will be determined quarterly and, from 2027 onward, it will be calculated weekly, always weighted by auction volume and published by the Commission. The Regulation also sets out requirements for data access, record keeping and transparency, with prices made available both on the Commission's website and in the CBAM registry for authorized declarants. Key principles have been laid out with the above legislation. However, further legal acts are expected during 2026. The legislation was provided just days before the new regulations take effect, with the definitive period of CBAM starting 1 January 2026. Therefore, it is now pressing for CBAM-affected businesses to undertake analysis, identify CBAM's impact and develop an action plan categorized in immediate, mid-term and rather long-term strategic goals.
The list can be extended. Affected entities should contact knowledgeable advisors for assistance implementing CBAM efficiently and remaining in compliance. For pertinent primary-source publications, go to Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism - Taxation and Customs Union.
Document ID: 2025-2607 | ||||||
