EUROMETAL has joined 19 other European industry associations and industriAll European Trade Union in signing a joint statement calling for the broadest possible extension of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to downstream products.
Ahead of the next trilogue negotiations, scheduled for 20 October, the signatories urge the European Parliament, Council and Commission to reach an ambitious agreement that protects European industrial value chains, investment and quality jobs.
The statement highlights the competitive pressures facing European manufacturers as carbon costs increase and free allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System are progressively phased out. Without broader CBAM coverage, manufacturers using steel and aluminium in Europe risk facing higher costs while competing finished and semi-finished products imported from third countries may enter the EU market without equivalent carbon costs.
This imbalance could increase the risk of European production being replaced by imports or relocated outside the EU, undermining investment in cleaner industrial production.
The sectors identified in the statement include construction, mobility, machinery, energy, packaging, home appliances, clean technologies and other metal-intensive industries. Their exposure demonstrates the importance of addressing carbon leakage across interconnected industrial value chains.
For EUROMETAL, representing European steel, tube and metal distribution, the competitiveness of downstream manufacturing is closely linked to the strength of the wider European steel value chain. By co-signing the statement, EUROMETAL supports a coordinated approach to ensuring that products manufactured in Europe are not disadvantaged by the carbon costs imposed by EU legislation.
The signatories call on EU policymakers to agree on comprehensive downstream coverage and place European industrial production, investment and quality jobs at the centre of the final agreement, recognising their contribution to Europe’s economic security, prosperity and climate transition.
