EU position in the EEA Joint Committee on CBAM

Official titleProposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, within...

Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, within the EEA Joint Committee concerning an amendment to Annex XX (Environment) to the EEA Agreement (CBAM)

On 1 July 2026, the European Commission proposed that the Council set the EU’s position for bringing Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway into the carbon border mechanism through a later EEA Joint Committee decision. This is a proposed Council decision, not the committee’s final amendment.

Proposal publishedEuropean CommissionEUR-Lex sourceCOM/2026/335 finalUpdated Jul 7Source synced

Bouleon Brief

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What is happening

On 1 July 2026, the Commission submitted a proposal for a Council decision setting the position the EU would take in the EEA Joint Committee. It asks the Council to base that position on an attached draft committee decision. The proposed Council decision would set the EU’s position; it would not itself amend the Agreement on the European Economic Area, known as the EEA Agreement.¹

The EEA Agreement covers 30 states—the EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway—and sets equal internal-market rights and obligations for citizens and economic operators. It also covers cooperation in areas including the environment. Annex XX is the agreement’s environment annex. The EEA Joint Committee manages the agreement, can amend that annex and takes binding decisions by consensus.¹

The planned amendment would add to the EEA Agreement both the 2023 EU regulation that established CBAM and the 2025 regulation that amended it to simplify and strengthen the mechanism. The Commission says the draft would establish participation by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway with adaptations that go beyond technical adjustments. On that basis, the Commission says the Council should establish the EU position.¹

Why it matters

CBAM is the carbon border adjustment mechanism. In practical terms, CEPS describes it as requiring importers to measure and report the CO2 content of covered imports from countries outside the EU. The proposed EEA amendment concerns the participation of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway in that mechanism.¹²

The Commission also says Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway should contribute financially to systems needed to operate CBAM across the whole EEA. It proposes establishing this contribution mechanism in parallel through a separate EEA Joint Committee decision, distinct from the committee decision that would add the two EU regulations to the EEA Agreement.¹

What happens next

In its 1 July proposal, the Commission asked the Council to adopt the draft committee decision as the EU position. If the Council adopts the position, the Commission says it should be presented in the EEA Joint Committee at the earliest possible opportunity. The committee would decide by consensus, and the resulting amendment would bind the parties.¹

The Commission’s proposal says a separate committee decision would establish the financial contribution mechanism. The available official record does not establish the content of the non-technical adaptations or a date for either EEA Joint Committee decision.¹