VDA position on a carbon border adjustment mechanism

Ursula von der Leyen, the new President of the European Commission, already introduced the
notion of creating a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) as part of the “European
Green Deal” when she made her first major speech to the European Parliament. The idea is to
impose a charge initially on selected imports that generate emissions during their production in
other countries, but are subject to lower environmental standards there than those in the EU. This
should compensate for what is known as “carbon leakage” (i.e. outsourcing economic activity to
avoid higher environmental standards) and competitive disadvantages for European companies
resulting from stricter CO2 requirements and higher prices of CO2 (by global comparison).

欧委会新任主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩在其首次向欧洲议会发表的重要演讲中，已提出构建碳边界调整机制（CBAM）的构想，作为“欧洲绿色协议”的一部分。该机制旨在对那些在生产过程中在其他国家产生碳排放，而其环境标准低于欧盟标准的选定进口商品征收费用。此举旨在弥补所谓的“碳泄漏”（即通过外包经济活动以规避更严格的环境标准）所带来的影响，以及由于更严格的二氧化碳排放要求和二氧化碳价格（与全球比较）较高而给欧洲企业带来的竞争优势劣势。