New Article 27a CBAM: A Safety Mechanism for Exceptional Market Situations

On 8 January 2026, the European Commission published an accompanying Questions and Answers document that further explains the possible application of Article 27a.

Article 27a does not represent a shift in climate policy. Rather, it is a narrowly defined emergency clause intended to apply only under exceptional circumstances.

Why was Article 27a proposed?

The CBAM Regulation is designed as a long-term, structural instrument to prevent carbon leakage. In its current form, however, it does not include a mechanism to respond quickly to extreme market disruptions — for example, where the inclusion of certain goods leads to sharply rising prices and significant disturbances within the internal market.

With Article 27a, the Commission acknowledges that there may be situations in which temporary corrective measures are necessary, without reopening the entire CBAM framework.

What does Article 27a allow in practice?

Provided that Article 27a is adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, the European Commission may:

• examine whether severe and unforeseen circumstances exist,
• assess whether these circumstances result in significant harm to the EU internal market, and
• where appropriate, temporarily exclude specific goods from the CBAM scope (Annex I).

Such decisions are not automatic. They must be taken through a delegated act following a case-by-case assessment by the Commission.

Any exclusion is explicitly temporary and applies only for as long as the exceptional circumstances persist.

Is retroactive application possible?

Yes.

Article 27a explicitly allows for retroactive application, provided that the harmful market conditions already existed prior to the entry into force of the delegated act.

In such cases, the affected goods would be removed from the CBAM scope retroactively from the specified date. The decisive moment is the publication of the relevant act in the Official Journal of the European Union.

What impact does Article 27a have on CBAM certificates?

There are no financial implications for 2026, as CBAM certificates, pursuant to Article 20 of the CBAM Regulation, must only be purchased from 1 February 2027 onwards.

If Article 27a were applied at a later stage and companies had already purchased CBAM certificates for the affected goods, the corresponding certificate costs would have to be reimbursed. The legal basis for such reimbursement would need to be explicitly set out in an EU legal act.

What Article 27a does not mean

Article 27a does not weaken or dilute CBAM. In particular, it does not lead to:

• permanent exemptions from CBAM,
• automatic price interventions,
• a general reduction of CBAM obligations.

Instead, it constitutes an emergency provision that applies only under clearly defined and exceptional conditions.

Assessment from a business perspective

For companies, Article 27a does not provide operational planning certainty. Whether and when the provision will be applied lies entirely within the discretion of the European Commission and depends on a macroeconomic assessment of market conditions.

At the same time, the proposal demonstrates that CBAM is not conceived as a rigid system, but includes limited corrective mechanisms to mitigate severe economic disruptions.

How MAYGREEN supports companies

The CBAM experts at MAYGREEN are pleased to support you with:

• the interpretation of regulatory developments related to CBAM, including the potential application of Article 27a,
• the operational and compliant implementation of CBAM obligations, even in situations of regulatory uncertainty,
• the correct application of TARIC codes and the delineation of CBAM-relevant goods,
• as well as software-supported processes and structured data flows via the CBAM Facilitator.