Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) implementation at risk amid ongoing regulatory delays

Brussels, 05 November 2025 - The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) is increasingly concerned by the delay in publishing the remaining legislation needed for the proper implementation of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in January.

Our manufacturers already devote significant resources towards CBAM reporting and are committed to being compliant when it enters its definitive phase in 2026. However, with just two months remaining before CBAM charges begin to apply, many critical implementation details remain unknown.

Motor vehicle manufacturing is amongst the sectors most impacted by CBAM. Our members import and process large volumes of steel and aluminium and their role in the proper functioning of the mechanism is crucial, given the need for operators to be able to properly and accurately report the embedded emissions of their imports.

However, the European Commission has yet to publish details on how important elements such as emission calculation methodologies, default values, the sale and repurchase of CBAM certificates, and the role of accredited verifiers, amongst others, should be applied.

"Automakers are committed to making CBAM work and have already invested a lot of resources into their compliance operations. However, there are far too many critical unknows at this very late stage which are going to make proper implementation by 1 January 2026 practically impossible" said ACEA Director General, Sigrid de Vries. "We call on the European Commission to publish the required texts as soon as possible and to understand the need for flexibility when it comes to the demands placed on operators next year".

Note for editors

• A position paper on CBAM can be found here: https://www.acea.auto/publication/acea-position-on-the-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism-cbam-simplification/

About ACEA

• The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) represents the 16 major Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, JLR, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Renault Group, Stellantis, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, and Volvo Group.
• Visit https://www.acea.auto for more information about ACEA, and follow us on https://www.x.com/ACEA_auto or https://www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/

Contact:

• Camille Lamarque, Policy Communications Officer, [email protected], +32 (0) 2 738 73 16

About the EU automobile industry

• 13.6 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
• 8.1% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
• €414.7 billion in tax revenue for European governments
• €93.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
• Over 8% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
• €84.6 billion in R&D spending annually, 34% of EU total