Strasbourg approves Democracy Shield and CBAM reform

On the Strasbourg plenary session from 14 to 17 September, the newspaper had previewed the agenda on 14 September, flagging the expected votes on defence and the carbon border mechanism. On 15 September the Chamber voted on three texts.

The first concerns the European Democracy Shield (Euds): Parliament approved, with 420 votes in favour, 220 against and 26 abstentions, the recommendations of the special committee dedicated to the topic. President Roberta Metsola commented: “We have sent the strongest possible signal: we will not stop in defending our democracies”.

The second vote concerns the carbon border adjustment mechanism, the CBAM. With 464 votes in favour, 50 against and 159 abstentions, the Chamber approved the extension of the instrument to numerous finished steel and aluminium products, thereby broadening the range of goods subject to the mechanism that applies a carbon price to imports.

The third text concerns the new Temporary Decarbonisation Fund: with 433 votes in favour, 97 against and 146 abstentions, Parliament adopted its negotiating position, which provides for bringing forward the disbursement of resources to 2027.

With these three votes Parliament now has a defined mandate on all three dossiers and can begin negotiations with the Union’s member states, both on the extended CBAM and on the Decarbonisation Fund. Discussion on the Democracy Shield, however, continues at the level of policy recommendations, without a parallel legislative negotiation in the immediate term.

The plenary session continues on 16 September with the State of the Union address and with the vote on the fifth Omnibus package for defence, scheduled after the 15 September debate.