European Commission: BiH request on CBAM concerns technical issues, not general exemption

A European Commission spokesperson explained that the Ministry’s request was submitted considerably later, after the Commission had already put forward a proposal to amend the CBAM Regulation, adding that the ''request will be considered as part of any future update of the default values''.

The spokesperson also noted that, in its letter, the European Commission informed the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH about the ongoing amendments to the CBAM Regulation. In this regard, the spokesperson recalled that on December 17, 2025, the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal to amend the CBAM Regulation, particularly with regard to the rules applicable to imported electricity.

"The proposal reflects the experience gained during the transitional period of CBAM implementation and addresses issues raised by international partners. One element of the Commission’s proposal is the adoption of a revised methodology for calculating default values in order to better reflect the decarbonization of electricity systems in third countries, which was also requested by Bosnia and Herzegovina. The proposal also includes simplified rules for reporting actual emissions. These amendments did not result in an exemption for any individual country," the spokesperson emphasized.

In a statement issued on July 29, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations said that the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union had responded to Minister Stasa Košarac’s request for a temporary exemption for BiH from CBAM implementation.

At the time, Minister Kosarac said that the relevant directorate had officially informed the Ministry that the European Commission had accepted its proposals and incorporated them into a proposal to amend the CBAM regulations, which was subsequently submitted to the legislative procedure of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.