France, Italy, and Slovakia are asking the EU to simplify its rules of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to ease the reporting burden on businesses. The levy, scheduled for 2026, will impose costs on CO2-heavy imports like steel and cement to protect European industries from competition in countries with weaker climate laws.

The European Commission has proposed exempting 90% of companies from the CBAM reporting, but the three countries want further simplifications, such as standardized emissions calculations, as the complexity of the system could significantly increase operating costs for European companies.

The three countries also suggest giving European exporters free CO2 permits to stay competitive in global markets.