Frankfurt/Brussels, 9 September 2025 – The European Parliament is about to vote on simplifying the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). VDMA Executive Director Thilo Brodtmann comments:

• “The agreement on CBAM simplification is an important step and is expected to be adopted shortly. However, without the rapid publication of the long-awaited technical regulations, implementation from January 2026 onwards will remain difficult for companies to plan ahead.”
• “Despite all efforts to simplify it, CBAM in its current form remains a considerable burden for export-oriented companies – especially in today’s challenging global trade environment.”
• The EU Commission's planned extension to downstream sectors would further increase complexity and jeopardize the competitiveness of the European mechanical engineering industry. The expansion should therefore be taken off the table.”
• “Before any extension, the EU Commission must carefully assess the impact on export costs and business practices. Concrete export solutions for downstream industries such as mechanical and plant engineering are urgently needed, as is an increase in the de minimis threshold to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises remain outside the scope of application."

  Thilo Brodtmann, VDMA Executive Director  

VDMA represents 3600 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation and SMEs. The companies employ around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries, both in the EU-27 and in Germany. In the European Union, it represents a turnover volume of an estimated 870 billion euros. Around 80 percent of the machinery sold in the EU comes from a manufacturing plant in the domestic market.