EU agrees to impose carbon dioxide emissions tariff

In an effort to actively combat climate change, the countries in the European Union have all agreed to adopt a mechanism that would impose carbon dioxide emissions tariffs. The tariffs would target imports of polluting goods.

The EU countries have agreed to adopt a mechanism that would impose tariffs on imported polluting goods such as iron, steel, cement, fertilizers, aluminum, and electricity. The mechanism, also known as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, will target the industrial imports of the 27 member countries of the EU, with the highest polluting products first.

The deal to adopt the mechanism was reached Tuesday in Brussels and would require companies, both domestic EU and overseas firms, to buy certificates to cover the embedded carbon dioxide emissions. Companies outside the EU are already required to obtain permits from the EU carbon market before they pollute.

“CBAM will be a crucial pillar of European climate policies,” said European Parliament member Mohammed Chahim from the Netherlands, in a statement issued by the parliament. “It is one of the only mechanisms we have to incentivize our trading partners to decarbonize their manufacturing industry.”

Chahim said that it would allow the bloc to “apply the ‘polluter pays’ principle to our industry.”

The goal of the mechanism is that European companies would not be undercut by cheaper goods that are produced in countries with weaker environmental rules. The deal also includes imported hydrogen that was initially not proposed by the bloc but lawmakers have pushed for during negotiations. Some details on the mechanism have yet to be determined this week in related negotiations related to the reform of an EU carbon market.

On the same day, the bloc’s foreign ministers have agreed to grant Bosnia candidate status to join the EU. This would put the Balkan nation on the road to membership.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted the EU to consider expansion toward the eastern European countries. The willingness comes as the bloc is concerned that Russia and China may attempt to spread their influence into the Balkan regions should the countries hoping to join the bloc are thwarted.