According to a press release from the Council, the main objective of the measure is to “avoid carbon leakage.”
 
In full compliance with international trade regulations, the CBAM “targets imports of carbon-intensive products to prevent offsetting the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts through imports of products manufactured in non-EU countries, where climate change policies are less ambitious than in the European Union.”
 
Bruno Le Maire, French minister for economic affairs, finance and recovery, said, “The agreement in the Council on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is a victory for European climate policy. It will give us a tool to speed up the decarbonization of our industry, while protecting it from companies from countries with less ambitious climate goals. It will also incentivize other countries to become more sustainable and emit less. Finally, this mechanism responds to our European ambitious strategy that is to accelerate Europe’s energy independence.”
 
Le Maire said the CBAM will work in parallel with the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and will “mirror and complement its functioning on imported goods.”
 
The CBAM will eventually replace methods to address the risk of carbon leakage that are currently in place in the EU.