MEPs back a wider CBAM and a fund to help industry decarbonise

On 7 July 2026 the European Parliament's environment committee (ENVI) voted to support extending CBAM to around 180 downstream products. The committee backed the Commission's December proposal and then sharpened it in three areas that importers should note.

Tighter circumvention rules

MEPs want the rules on"slightly modified" goods tightened so that minor processing cannot lift a product out of scope. They also added provisions aimed at online sales, closing a loophole through which covered goods could reach EU consumers in small consignments without a CBAM charge. And where patterns of circumvention emerge, the Commission would be able to impose default emission values rather than accept reported figures.

Taken together with the Council's position, which we covered here in June, the direction is consistent: both institutions want a scheme that is harder to route around.

A decarbonisation fund from 2027

The committee also expanded the proposed Temporary Decarbonisation Fund. Fertiliser producers join the list of eligible recipients, covering products such as urea and ammonium nitrate, and the fund would run from 2027 to 2029 rather than starting in 2028. The fund is intended to support EU industry's transition using revenue linked to the scheme, and its final shape will be one of the points settled in negotiations.

The road to a final text

The full Parliament is expected to adopt its position at the September plenary. Talks between Parliament and Council then begin, with both aiming for a deal before the end of the year. The extension itself is planned for 1 January 2028, which leaves manufacturers and importers of downstream goods roughly eighteen months to prepare.

Our view

The debate in Brussels is no longer about whether CBAM grows, but how fast and how tightly it is policed. Businesses in the supply chains for machinery, appliances, construction equipment and vehicle components should assume they will be in scope and start asking their suppliers for emissions data now. Eighteen months sounds like along time. For a supply chain that has never measured embedded emissions, it is not.

CBAM-Assured runs training courses for businesses coming into scope for the first time. Contact us to find out more.

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