EU Parliament votes in favour of the Omnibus CBAM simplifications
EU Parliament Votes in Favour of the Omnibus CBAM Simplification, Von der Leyen Highlights the Importance of Carbon Pricing for Fair Global Competition in State of the Union Speech.
At a Glance:
- EU Parliament Votes in Favour of the Omnibus CBAM Simplifications
- Von der Leyen Highlights the Importance of Carbon Pricing for Fair Global Competition in State of the Union Speech
EU Parliament votes in favour of the Omnibus CBAM simplifications
On September 10, 2025, the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of the simplifications to the EU CBAM, voting 617 in favor, 18 against, with 19 abstentions.
The amendments are part of the "Omnibus I" simplification package introduced on February 26, 2025, designed to streamline existing sustainability and investment legislation.
Rapporteur Antonio Decaro (S&D, IT) said: “The CBAM is designed to prevent carbon leakage and protect Europe’s cement, iron, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, electricity, and hydrogen industries. We have answered calls from companies to simplify and streamline the process and exempted 90% of importers of CBAM goods to facilitate competitiveness and growth for our businesses. As the CBAM will still cover 99% of total CO2 emissions, we have maintained the EU’s environmental ambitions and remain fully committed to a just transition and to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.”
The text now awaits formal endorsement by the Council. Once approved, it will take effect three days after publication in the EU Official Journal.
Von der Leyen highlights the importance of carbon pricing for fair global competition in State of the union speech
In her State of the European Union speech, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the importance of carbon pricing for securing a global level playing field:
(...) and securing the global level playing field, notably by promoting carbon pricing.
Von der Leyen also made references to imports coming from non-EU countries, with an implicit allusion to the EU CBAM as a needed instrument to address the lack of global level playing field when it comes to decarbonisation efforts:
Europe must protect its industries, they are doing the right thing to decarbonise and they should be rewarded and incentivised. We otherwise risk relying again on imports to Europe, imports for the steel our carmakers need or imports of fertilisers that our farmers need. And that means we would be at the mercy of price, volume, and quality that others are willing and able to provide.
Europe will always remain open. We like competition, but we will always protect our industry from unfair competition.
EU CBAM: 10 Common Misconceptions Manufacturers Should Avoid
The EU CBAM transitional phase has been a crucial learning journey for many stakeholders — from importers and non-EU manufacturers to public authorities. However, it has also brought its fair share of misunderstandings about how the mechanism actually works. We've published a blog post diving into 10 common misconceptions among manufacturers—breaking them down to help them avoid costly mistakes.