Key takeaway
What This Development Means
The European Parliament has adopted negotiating positions to extend the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to more downstream steel and aluminium goods and establish a Temporary Decarbonisation Fund. Neither proposal is law. Parliament must now negotiate with the Council, while the existing CBAM regime continues to apply to its current product scope.
Do The Additional CBAM Downstream Goods Apply Now?
No. Parliament has adopted a negotiating position, not a final regulation. The present product scope under Regulation (EU) 2023/956 remains applicable until an amending act is agreed, signed, published and reaches its relevant application date.
Is The Temporary Decarbonisation Fund Available To Companies?
No. It remains a legislative proposal. The proposed timetable concerns support for eligible 2026 and 2027 production, with applications and payments later. Eligibility, funding and deadlines may change during negotiations and must be checked against the final act.
Source basis: European Parliament, CBAM and Temporary Decarbonisation Fund vote (15 September 2026)
Parliament Adopts CBAM Downstream Goods Position
The European Parliament has adopted a negotiating position on CBAM downstream goods, supporting a substantial expansion beyond the mechanism's current basic-material scope. The Parliament announcement records approval by 464 votes to 50, with 159 abstentions, on 15 September 2026.
Parliament wants the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to cover additional finished and semi-finished goods that contain significant quantities of steel or aluminium. Examples include fasteners, wire, springs and household articles. The position also supports stronger anti-circumvention tools intended to address misdeclaration, minor product modifications and other practices that could avoid a carbon charge.
The vote is a legislative milestone, not an expansion of legal duties. Regulation (EU) 2023/956 and its current annexes remain the applicable law while Parliament and the Council negotiate the proposed amendment, COM(2025) 989.
What Changed And What Remains Proposed
The Commission originally proposed adding about 180 downstream goods. The Council position covered about 200, while Parliament's position reportedly covers 457 product lines. That difference will be a central issue in negotiations. Businesses should therefore use Parliament's list for scenario planning, not as a final classification schedule.
Parliament separately adopted its position on the proposed Temporary Decarbonisation Fund by 433 votes to 97, with 146 abstentions. COM(2025) 990 would use part of CBAM revenue to support eligible EU production exposed to residual carbon-leakage risk. Parliament supports including urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate and certain downstream operators.
Parliament wants the fund to run from 2027 to 2029, rather than starting in 2028 as the Commission proposed.
The fund remains proposed. The Commission text envisages support relating to production in 2026 and 2027, applications by 31 March 2028 and disbursement by the end of 2029. Those dates and eligibility conditions require confirmation in the final regulation.
Implications Across Manufacturing Value Chains
Importers and non-EU manufacturers should map Combined Nomenclature codes for steel- and aluminium-intensive finished goods and identify where precursor emissions data can be obtained. Procurement teams should assess contract responsibility for emissions information, default values and later certificate costs. EU processors should evaluate whether the proposed fund could apply without building anticipated support into budgets prematurely.
The proposals do not remove current CBAM obligations, the 50-tonne mass threshold for the principal covered sectors or the definitive-period reporting framework. Nor do they automatically extend CBAM to every product containing steel or aluminium. Final product codes, calculation methods, evidence rules and commencement provisions will determine scope.
Foresight analysis. Parliament's broader product list increases the likelihood that carbon data will become a commercial requirement deeper in manufacturing supply chains. Even if negotiations narrow the list, suppliers of metal-intensive components may face customer data requests before the legislation is final.
Related Foresight coverage explains the Commission's definitive-period CBAM guidance, the EU Industrial Accelerator Act and the CBAM topic.
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