EU Council sets position to extend carbon border mechanism to EEA states

The Council of the European Union adopted Decision (EU) 2026/2240 on 24 September 2026, fixing the position the EU will take in the EEA Joint Committee on amending Annex XX (Environment) to the EEA Agreement so that the carbon border adjustment mechanism is incorporated into the wider European Economic Area. The decision was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L series, on 6 October 2026, with EEA relevance.

The decision rests on Article 192(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, read with Article 218(9), and on Article 1(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 on arrangements for implementing the EEA Agreement. The EEA Agreement entered into force on 1 January 1994, and its Article 98 allows the EEA Joint Committee to amend its annexes. Two acts are to be incorporated: Regulation (EU) 2023/956 of 10 May 2023 establishing the carbon border adjustment mechanism, and Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 of 8 October 2025 simplifying and strengthening it. The EU position is based on the draft EEA Joint Committee decision annexed to the Council decision, signed in Brussels by P. BURKE as President of the Council.

Uniform application across the Economic Area

The draft decision records that Regulation (EU) 2023/956 presupposes customs data and systems inside the EU Customs Union that fall outside the scope of the EEA Agreement, and that the Contracting Parties recognise the need for the EFTA States to adapt their national legislation so the mechanism operates uniformly throughout the European Economic Area. Origin determination and goods classification must be aligned: the EFTA States must adopt rules substantively identical to the EU’s non-preferential origin rules under Article 59 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 and the Combined Nomenclature codes of Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87. The EFTA Surveillance Authority monitors transposition and implementation under Article 109(1) of the EEA Agreement.

• The Union must notify the Standing Committee of the EFTA States at least 45 days before amendments to non-preferential origin rules enter into force in the Union.
• The same 45-day notice applies to amendments to the CN codes listed in Annex I and to Taric commodity codes of up to 10 digits.
• The EFTA States must amend their national rules within 45 days of notification, for uniform and simultaneous application.
• The EEA Joint Committee is to be informed and to publish a periodic list of those decisions in the EEA Supplement to the Official Journal.

Who is covered, and who is not

• Norway and Iceland are removed from the list in paragraph 1 of Annex III, bringing them within the scope of the mechanism.
• The regulation “shall not apply to Liechtenstein”.
• A declaration by Iceland and Norway recalls that the mechanism applies to goods brought to an artificial island, a fixed or floating structure or any other structure on the continental shelf or in the exclusive economic zone, without prejudice to Article 126 of the EEA Agreement on territorial scope.

Revenues, supervision and deadlines

• Revenues from the sale of CBAM certificates to CBAM declarants established in the EFTA States accrue to the EFTA States.
• Audits at the premises of CBAM declarants established in the EFTA States are conducted by the EFTA Surveillance Authority; officials authorised by the European Commission may be invited as observers.
• The EFTA Surveillance Authority also monitors the single mass-based threshold for importers established in the EFTA States.
• Sharing of information with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office does not apply to the EFTA States.
• CBAM declarants established in the EFTA States must register an EORI number before importing Annex I goods into the EU customs territory, where the customs declaration is lodged in the importer’s name or by an indirect customs representative using the importer’s CBAM authorisation number.
• Articles 5, 14, 16 and 17 apply to the EFTA States from 1 September 2026 and Articles 10 and 10a from 1 December 2026; the deadline in Article 17(7a) moves from 31 March 2026 to 31 March 2027 for EFTA importers.

Data exchange and entry into force

Pending the EFTA States’ connection to EU CSW-CERTEX, the European Commission must ensure their customs authorities can access CBAM authorisation information from the CBAM registry on a weekly basis. EFTA customs authorities report customs data to the CBAM Registry in a format identical to that used by EU Member States under Annex 21-03 to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447, and the Contracting Parties exchange information on the identities of their authorised CBAM declarants and importers. The EFTA States are to take part in the joint action to procure a common central platform, subject to an agreement to join the joint procurement agreement. The Icelandic and Norwegian language versions of both regulations are authentic and will be published in the EEA Supplement. The Council decision entered into force on the date of its adoption; the draft EEA Joint Committee decision enters into force on the fourteenth day following the last notification under Article 103(1) of the EEA Agreement, whichever is later, and will be published in the EEA Section of, and the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal.

For importers and exporters in Norway and Iceland, the decision means CBAM obligations will be applied through national law aligned with EU rules, with revenues retained by the EFTA States and supervision shared between the European Commission and the EFTA Surveillance Authority. Liechtenstein remains outside the mechanism, so the three-country framing of the EEA does not translate into a uniform carbon border levy.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 6 October 2026, Decision (EU) 2026/2240 (official reference: CELEX:L_20262240).