EU nations reach agreement on carbon tax
French President Emmanuel Macron has revealed that European Union (EU) member states have reached an agreement on a carbon tax.
The levy – described as a carbon border adjustment mechanism – will be imposed on products imported into the bloc that are produced by less stringent CO2 emissions standards.
The intention is to equalise the cost in terms of CO2 emissions, as to what manufacturers would have paid had the goods been made in the EU.
Macron announced the move in a tweet on Tuesday.
He said: “Europe is moving forward! An agreement has just been reached between the Member States on a “carbon tax” at our borders, a fight that I have been fighting for since 2017, and a priority of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.”
France had set the agreement as one of the goals for its EU presidency.
Official confirmation of the measures from the European Commission has not yet been published.
However, Finland’s finance chief Annika Saarikko revealed an agreement had been reached between EU finance ministers earlier today.
The EU Commission’s proposal for imported goods to fall under the new tariff include cement, electricity, fertilisers, aluminium, iron and steel.
Saarikko said: “Today, under France’s presidency, we approved CBAM, or the carbon border adjustment mechanism, the general guidelines for it. This is a strong part of the core thinking in the EU’s climate policy,”
Subjects discussed in the meeting also include the war in Ukraine and a separate plan to introduce a global minimum corporate tax reform across the bloc.
“There is widespread readiness among EU countries to approve it but we could not resolve on the matter today,” Saarikko explained.