APPLiA calls for stronger CBAM scope ahead of EU Parliament review

Thursday 18 June 2026, Brussels - APPLiA, the association representing Europe’s leading home appliance manufacturers, welcomes the Council of the EU’s decision to extend the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to an initial set of household appliances. However, significant gaps in the proposed scope remain. These omissions risk creating loopholes for circumvention while sending a contradictory carbon-price signal to European manufacturers investing in decarbonisation. 

APPLiA therefore calls on the European Parliament to address these gaps ahead of the ENVI Committee vote in early July, ensuring that CBAM delivers a level playing field and supports the EU's climate and industrial objectives.

On 12 June 2026, the Council of the EU adopted its General Approach on extending CBAM to downstream goods, including iconic household appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators. While the Council sought to identify additional products exposed to carbon leakage due to international competition and embedded carbon costs, important categories remain excluded.

The Council's list goes beyond the Commission's original proposal. It now captures household refrigerators, chest and upright freezers, and several types of water heaters. Bringing individual refrigerators and individual freezers in scope together with the already included combined refrigerators-freezers is exactly the kind of coherent, future-proof approach APPLiA has advocated, closing one of the most obvious circumvention risks between near-identical products.

Paolo Falcioni, APPLiA Director General "Seeing the household refrigerator — an appliance found in virtually every European kitchen — finally brought within the CBAM scope is a real milestone. The Council has recognised that carbon leakage is moving downstream and has acted accordingly. That deserves recognition."

However, the Council's proposal falls short of a complete and coherent scope, leaving significant loopholes that risk undermining the objective of extending CBAM.

Most notably, the Council included certain washing machine components while excluding larger washing machines themselves (those above 10 kg dry-linen capacity). Covering components but not the finished product creates a clear opportunity for circumvention. Similar inconsistencies persist elsewhere: household dishwashers and tumble dryers above 10 kg — products that are functionally and materially comparable to appliances already in scope — remain excluded. Likewise, non-electric water heaters are covered, while their electric equivalents are not, creating an artificial distinction between closely related products.

For home appliance manufacturers, these inconsistencies are more than technical. A company producing a refrigerator (covered by the CBAM) and a dishwasher (out of scope) the same European manufacturing line faces opposite carbon-price signals for comparable, steel-intensive appliances. Such distortions risk encouraging production and emissions to move outside the EU.

Falcioni continues "While we welcome this important step, more is needed. As long as same-use products such as large washing machines and closely related appliances like dishwashers remain outside the scope, manufacturers will face inconsistent carbon-price signals and circumvention risks will be built into the system from day one.”

The Council's General Approach will now form the basis for negotiations with the European Parliament, which has yet to adopt its position.

APPLiA calls on the Parliament to use this opportunity to include all home-appliance CN codes at risk of carbon leakage within the CBAM scope, ensuring that European manufacturers receive a single, coherent carbon-price signal that supports investment and production in Europe.

Read the Council’s press release: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/06/12/council-moves-to-strengthen-the-eu-s-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism/