A major reform of the European Green Deal comes into force on October 1: the famous carbon tax at borders, a French idea which has gained ground.
This October 1 marks an important date with the entry into force of the carbon border tax, a major reform of the Green Deal, this large package of legislation which accompanies an ecological transition that is often painful for European companies. Originally, it was an idea from Jacques Chirac, taken up by Nicolas Sarkozy then François Hollande.
This initially concerns industrialists in highly polluting sectors such as steel, aluminum, fertilizers, electricity and cement, but also hydrogen: between them, they are responsible for around half of the emissions. industrial sectors in the EU. Until now, Chinese steel manufacturers, for example, who produce steel at home without respecting our environmental standards, could import it into Europe without paying a “pollution duty”. With this CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism), they will have to go to the cash register and buy emission quotas on the European carbon market, as European companies do.
The same environmental constraints for everyone
At the same time, we will gradually remove from European manufacturers their free right to pollute quotas, which were distributed to them to avoid unfair competition. The objective is to push Europeans to decarbonize their production methods, by removing these free quotas and to penalize their foreign competitors if they do not make an environmental effort.
The CBAM also aims to discourage European manufacturers who would be tempted to relocate their production to countries that are less strict on production standards. Because they too will then have to pay an import duty into the EU.
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The reform officially comes into force on October 1, but there will be a purely declarative phase at first. We will already see more clearly on the way in which industries established outside the EU produce, explains an expert. The actual checkout is planned for 2026, and the revenue will replenish the coffers of the European Union, which badly need it.