The EU’s carbon border levy means Ukrainians “are being hit in two of their major exports to the EU — steel and electricity”, Pascal Lamy told Contexte in a 22 July interview.
He called for an exemption that could be tied to specific milestones in Ukraine’s decarbonisation, linked to its EU membership bid.
Lamy, a former EU commissioner for trade and ex-head of the World Trade Organization, is now a coordinator of the Jacques Delors network of think tanks and a member of the board of directors of Ukrainian energy company DTEK.
According to Ukrainian consultancy GMK Center, Ukrainian exports of long steel products to the EU fell by more than 60% year on year to the first quarter of 2026.
At the end of 2025, by volume, Ukraine was the largest exporter to the EU of steel covered by CBAM, the Commission said.
In a separate report, Bruegel estimated that CBAM could reduce Ukrainian electricity exports to the EU by more than 60%.
Several MEPs and one trade association have already called for the EU candidate country to be exempted from CBAM.
