BAKGRUNN (fra kommisjonsforordningen)

(1) Regulation (EU) 2023/956 lays down reporting obligations for the purposes of carbon border adjustment mechanism during the transitional period from 1 October 2023 until 31 December 2025.

(2) During the transitional period, importers or indirect customs representatives are to report on the quantity of imported goods, direct and indirect emissions embedded in them, and any carbon price due for those emissions, including carbon prices due for emissions embedded in relevant precursor materials.

(3) The first report should be submitted by 31 January 2024 in respect of goods imported during the fourth quarter of 2023. The last report should be submitted by 31 January 2026 in respect of goods imported during the fourth quarter of 2025.

(4) The Commission is to adopt implementing rules for those reporting requirements.

(5) The reporting requirements should be limited to what is necessary to minimise the burden on importers in the transitional period and facilitate the smooth roll-out of the CBAM declaration requirements after the transitional period.

(6) In line with Annex IV of Regulation (EU) 2023/956, the detailed rules for calculating embedded emissions of imported goods should be based on the methodology applicable under the Emission Trading Scheme for installations located in the EU, as notably specified in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066. The principles for determining the embedded emissions of the goods listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2023/956 should aim at identifying the relevant production processes for goods categories, and to monitor the direct and indirect emissions of those production processes. Reporting during the transitional period should also take into account existing norms and procedures of relevant Union legislation. As regards the production of hydrogen and its derivatives, the reporting should take into account Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

(7) The system boundaries of production processes, including emissions data at installation level, attributed emissions of production processes and embedded emissions of goods should be used for determining data to be provided for the purpose of fulfilling the reporting obligations. For those obligations, the importers and indirect customs representatives should ensure the availability of information needed from the operators of installations. That information should be received in a timely manner for the importers and indirect customs representatives to fulfil their reporting obligations. That information should include standard emission factors to use for calculating direct embedded emissions, notably fuel emission factors and process emission factors and reference efficiency factors for electricity and heat production.

(8) Since the beginning of the reporting period starts on 1st October 2023, importers and indirect customs representatives have limited time available to ensure compliance with the reporting obligations. Synergies can be obtained with the monitoring and reporting systems already used by third country operators. A temporary derogation to the calculation methods for reporting embedded emissions should therefore be allowed for a limited period, until end of 2024. That flexibility should apply when the operator in a third country is subject to a mandatory monitoring and reporting system associated to a carbon pricing scheme, or to other mandatory monitoring and reporting schemes, or when the operator is monitoring the emissions of the installation, including for an emissions reduction project.

(9) For a limited period, until 31 July 2024, reporting declarants that would not be able to obtain all the information from third country operators to determine the actual embedded emissions of the imported goods in accordance with the methodology set in Annex III to this Regulation should be able to use and refer to an alternative method for determining the direct embedded emissions.

(10) The reporting obligations should also afford some flexibility for the determination of the production steps in installations that do not account for a significant part of the embedded direct emissions of the imported goods. Such would be typically the case for the final production steps of steel or aluminium downstream products. In that case, a derogation from the required reporting obligations should be provided and estimated values may be reported for the production steps in installations whose contribution to direct emissions do not exceed 20% of the total embedded emissions of the imported goods. That threshold should ensure sufficient flexibility for small operators in third countries.

(11) One of the objectives of the transitional period is to collect data for the purpose of further specifying, in the implementing act pursuant to Article 7(7) of Regulation (EU) 2023/956, the methodology for calculating embedded indirect emissions after that period. In that context, the reporting of indirect emissions during the transitional period should be open and designed to allow to select the most appropriate value among those listed in Section 4.3 in Annex IV of Regulation (EU) 2023/956. Reporting of indirect emissions should however not include reporting based on the average emission factor of the Union grid as that value is already known by the Commission.

(12) Data collected during the transitional period should provide the basis for the reports that the Commission is to present in accordance with Article 30(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/956. Data collected during the transitional period should also help define a unique monitoring, reporting and verification methodology after the transitional period. The assessment of data collected should in particular be used for the Commission’s work in view of adjusting the methodology applicable after the transitional period.

(13) The indicative range of penalties that are to be imposed on a reporting declarant who has failed to respect the reporting obligations should be based on the default values made available and published by the Commission for the transitional period for the embedded emissions that were not reported. The indicative maximum range should be coherent with the penalty pursuant to Article 16(3) and (4) of Directive 2003/87/EC , while also taking into account that the obligation in the transitional period is limited to data reporting. The criteria to be used by competent authorities for determining the actual amount of the penalty should be based on the gravity and duration of the failure to report. The Commission should monitor the CBAM reports in order to provide for an indicative assessment of the information needed by the competent authorities and to ensure coherency of the penalties to be applied.

(14) In order to ensure the efficient implementation of reporting obligations, an electronic database, the CBAM Transitional Registry, should be established by the Commission to collect the information reported during the transitional period. The CBAM Transitional Registry should be the basis for the establishment of the CBAM Registry pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2023/956.

(15) The CBAM Transitional Registry should become the system for the filing and management of the CBAM reports for reporting declarants, including checks, indicative assessments, and review procedures. To ensure an accurate assessment of the reporting obligations, the CBAM Transitional Registry should be interoperable with existing customs systems.

(16) In order to ensure an effective and uniform reporting system, technical arrangements for the functioning of the CBAM Transitional Registry should be laid down, such as arrangements for the development, testing and deployment as well as for the maintenance and potential modifications of the electronic systems, data protection, updating of data, limitation of data processing, systems ownership, and security.

(17) In order to ensure the continuity of data reporting at all times, it is important to provide for alternative solutions to be implemented in the event of a temporary failure of the electronic systems for data reporting. To that effect, the Commission should work on a CBAM business continuity plan.

(18) In order to secure access to the CBAM Transitional Registry, the Uniform User Management and Digital Signature (UUM&DS) system, as referred to in Article 16 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1070 , should be used for managing, the authentication, and access verification process for reporting declarants.

(19) For the purpose of identifying the reporting declarants and establishing a list of the reporting declarants with their Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) numbers, the CBAM Transitional Registry should be interoperable with the Economic Operator Registration and Identification system, as referred to in Article 30 to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1070.

(20) For checking and reporting purposes, the national systems should provide the required information on goods listed in Annex l of Regulation (EU) 2023/956, as referred in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2151.

(21) Identifying imported goods by means of their classification in the Combined Nomenclature (‘CN’) set out in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 and the storage provisions set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1070 should be used for providing information on imported goods listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2023/956.

(22) This Regulation respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and notably the right to protection of personal data. The personal data of economic operators and other persons processed by the electronic systems should be restricted to the dataset set out in Annex I of this Regulation.

(23) The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council [and delivered an opinion on (…) ].

(24) As the first reporting period starts on 1 October 2023, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency.

(25) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the CBAM Committee,