More than 80 per cent of EU companies eligible for a new carbon border tax will be exempted under reforms planned by Brussels, tax commissioner Wopke Hoekstra has said. 

Hoekstra told the FT he wanted to restrict the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) to the biggest importers and spare most businesses the costs of compliance and charges as part of the bloc’s push to cut red tape and boost productivity.

“Less than 20 per cent of the companies in scope are responsible for more than 95 per cent of the emissions in the products,” he said.

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“It doesn’t do anything to [diminish] the importance of the climate objectives, but it is a way to make life much easier for a wide range of companies across the continent.

The move would free up to 180,000 of the 200,000 businesses affected from complying.

European companies have complained about the complicated and costly form-filling during a trial run of CBAM, which aims to protect heavy industry in the EU — a sector that already has to pay for its greenhouse gas emissions.

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Source : https://www.ft.com/content/c6102135-eefa-488f-81c2-4aa8eaf95644