The certificate price for EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) will be calculated using prices from all auctions under the EU emissions trading system (ETS), a draft implementing act prepared by the commission and seen by Argus suggests. Another leaked draft on verifiers suggests that the European Commission may allow verifiers to conduct virtual site visits, provided certain conditions are met.
The CBAM certificate price will be a volume-weighted average of all auctions under the EU ETS, including allowances auctioned by all auctioneers, by member states through an opt-out platform, as well as by the bloc's funds and third countries through the common auction platform, according to a draft implementing regulation.
The calculation of the CBAM certificate price will be based on auction clearing prices. The calendar weekly or quarterly price averages will be used in such calculations "for the sake of simplicity", determined in euros and rounded to two decimals, the draft said.
The commission will determine the CBAM certificate price "as soon as possible", once all the necessary information is made available to it. One single price "should only be published by the Commission," according to the draft. It will be publicly available on the commission's website "in a directly accessible manner and free of charge". The price will also be available to authorised CBAM declarants' accounts in the CBAM registry.
The regulation provides a method for calculating CBAM certificate prices on a quarterly basis for 2026 and a weekly basis from 2027 onwards.
The commission will announce the quarterly price within the first calendar week following the related calendar quarter. Quarterly prices will be made available to authorised declarants in the CBAM registry from the third quarter of 2026.
From 2027, the commission will publish CBAM certificate prices on the first working day following the week relevant for the calculation.
Separately, another draft act on the verification of embedded emissions data suggests accredited verifiers will have the option to replace a physical site visit by a virtual one every other year, without being subject to approval by competent authorities. A physical site visit will still be required for the first year, subject to verification, and physical site visits should occur at least every two years, according to the draft. A verifier can also conduct a virtual visit, should a physical one be impossible due to "serious, extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances".
A single electronic template will be developed by the commission and be made available to all verifiers for use.
Verifiers may waive the obligation to conduct a physical site visit of a power-generating installation, provided that a set of conditions are fulfilled, according to the draft.
