European People’s Party Callsfor Two-year CBAM Freeze

    The European People's Party (EPP) has called for a two-year delay on the implementation of CBAM in a statement seen by Kallanish, following its recent leadership summit. It also called for the introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive to be paused for the same length of time. It argues these measures impose excessive burdens on SMEs, hinder competitiveness, and risk deindustrialization. 

 “The EU has decided on ambitious climate targets and policies to achieve them. When implementing them, we must make sure that they do not lead to deindustrialization. If climate policy becomes an obstacle for competitiveness and growth, it will not only fail to have the support of European citizens, but it will also risk increasing global emissions because products will be produced in other regions of the world with higher emissions,” it said. The EPP proposes limiting such regulations to large companies (1,000+ employees), reducing overlap, and cutting reporting obligations by 50%. It also calls for measures to protect the European automotive industry and allocate more ETS revenues to energy-intensive sectors.

    In contrast to the EPP’s call, CEMBUREAU (The European Cement Association) calls for timely CBAM start:“CEMBUREAU agrees that some targeted improvements could be brought to CBAM, in particular to minimize the risks of fraudand circumvention, find a solution for exports, and simplify the mechanism where possible. These points are important and deserve a strong focus from policymakers. However, a two-year delay in CBAM implements, and for the broader competitiveness of the cement sector, which has been confronted with rising imports in recent years, " said CEMBUREAU in a statement.

     CEMBUREAU also points out that CBAM does not add bureaucratic constraints on European cement producers as it mirrors the requirements of the EU EmissionsTrading Scheme, to which all European producers of CBAM goods are subject today,to ensure a level playing field between goods produced in the EU and outside of the EU.

From: https://www.fastener-world.com/en/article/9050.html