One of the EU's most central climate and competition tools is now being introduced into Danish legislation. A new climate duty on imported goods will price and tax the CO2 emissions that production accounts for in countries outside the union.
On Friday, the EU legislation met with broad support during the first reading in the Danish Parliament.
- It is about creating the framework for the market to work for the climate, and then it is about ensuring the competitiveness of European companies, says Linea Søgaard-Lidell, climate spokesperson for the Liberal Party.
A wide range of parties from the Unity List to the Denmark Democrats declared support for the introduction of the new duty. The new climate tax will come into force from January 2026.
The mechanism, which goes by the abbreviation CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism), was proposed by the EU Commission back in 2021 as part of the EU's climate plan Fit for 55.
The climate tax has thus already been adopted at EU level, and the Danish Parliament must now implement the Danish administration of the scheme. The rationale behind the tax is that companies in the EU must pay a quota price for the CO2 emissions they cause when producing goods within the union.
However, companies from, for example, the USA and China have not had to pay this price for pollution so far, and this has put pressure on European competitiveness and the green transition.
This is being leveled out with the climate tax. But for the Unity Party, it is not a satisfactory solution, even though the party supports the introduction. The climate tax is not imposed on products from the food sector, and here the import of soy for agricultural feed is a particular challenge.
- We would very much like to see this expanded. We think it would be a strength if animal feed were included in the list, so that a CO2 tax could be imposed on imported soy, says Søren Egge Rasmussen, climate spokesman for the Unity Party.
Climate Minister Lars Aagaard (M) acknowledges the point, which he calls important. He points out that expanding the product groups covered will be a theme in future revisits of the climate tax.
/ritzau/
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