Informal Expert Group on the CBAM: the presentation

The presentation made by the  Informal Expert Group on the CBAM [ TAXUD-CBAM-EXPERT-GROUPS@ec.europa.eu ]at its 1st Meeting held on 23 April 2024     lists that the criteria for the CBAM application which are: “• Name, address and contact information; • EORI number; • Main economic activity carried out in the Union; • Certification by the tax authority in the Member State where the applicant is established that the applicant is not subject to an outstanding recovery order for national tax debts; • Declaration of honour that the applicant was not involved in any serious infringements or repeated infringements of customs legislation, taxation rules or market abuse rules during the five years preceding the year of the application, including that it has no record of serious criminal offences relating to its economic activity; • Information necessary to demonstrate the applicant’s financial and operational capacity to fulfil its obligations under this Regulation and, if decided by the competent authority on the basis of a risk assessment, supporting documents confirming that information, such as the profit and loss account and the balance sheet for up to the last three financial years for which the accounts were closed; • Estimated monetary value and volume of imports of goods into the customs territory of the Union by type of goods, for the calendar year during which the application is submitted, and for the following calendar year; • Names and contact information of the persons on behalf of whom the applicant is acting, if applicable…”. While the criteria to take decision are:

• The applicant is established in the Member State where the application is submitted
• The applicant has a valid EORI number for CBAM
• The applicant has not been involved in a serious infringement or in repeated infringements of customs legislation, taxation rules, market abuse rules or this CBAM Regulation, and in particular the applicant has no record of serious criminal offences relating to its economic activity during the five years preceding the application
• The applicant demonstrates its financial and operational capacity to fulfil its obligations under the CBAM Regulation
• Guarantee, if applicable
• The applicant has no other valid CBAM authorisation
• The decision-taking competent authority confirms that no other reason could lead to an unfavourable decision
• Justification.

In the slide n.17, the presentation streamlines the following points:

• When the applicant applies, he is notified about this application reference number and the decision-taking competent authority is given a timeframe to take a decision.
• Upon receipt of an application, the decision-taking competent authority is required to register the duration for the ensuing consultation process, which involves the competent authorities from other Member States as well as the Commission.
• The applicant may withdraw its application at any time, provided that the decision-taking competent authority has not yet reached a decision (either positive or negative) concerning the issuance of the authorisation.
• The applicant is free to apply again for a CBAM authorisation – by submitting a new application.

The slide n.19 of the presentation lays down as follow:

• Throughout the authorisation process, the applicant can suggest adjustments to

their application.

• In response, the decision-taking competent authority reviews these adjustments and is free to either update their decision or incorporate the adjustments into the authorisation to be issued.
• It is foreseen there will be essential and non-essential adjustments e.g. change of phone number, name, or contact person.
• If a consultation process is currently underway, the authority must decide whether or not to share the received adjustments with the consulted parties. This decision is at the discretion of the decision-taking competent authority, as not all information necessarily needs to be shared with consulted parties, depending on the information’s sensitivity and other factors.
• The feedback is subsequently communicated to the applicant.