Pragmatic adjustments to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism framework should be followed by deeper and faster reviews of what else in the Green Deal can be simplified, ECR coordinator on the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Alexandr Vondra said today as MEPs voted to cut the regulatory burden facing small businesses in Europe.

The vote establishes a 50-tonne threshold for importers of certain industrial products, below which CBAM provisions will not apply.

Mr Vondra welcomed the fact that this would help 91 per cent of the companies in the scope of the original CBAM legislation but still include 99 per cent of the emissions originally targeted.

CBAM was designed by the Commission to ‘put a fair price on the carbon emitted during the production of carbon-intensive goods imported into the EU.’

In addition to the importer exemption, MEPs approved a raft of measures to make the law simpler, more streamlined and easier to comply with.

Speaking after Parliament voted, Mr Vondra said:

“It shows what’s possible when the Commission pauses to reflect a little instead of rushing into the imposition of blanket regulation that damages jobs and the balance sheets of small companies.

“This simplification keeps almost all of CBAM intact but removes a heavy burden from small-scale importers that they should never have faced in the first place.

“The simplification of CBAM does not, however, address deeper issues of the regulation, such as solutions for European exporters or the phase-out of free allowances.

“I expect the Commission to come up with a thorough proposal soon that tackles these gaps.”