The old answer vs the current answer.
Since October 2025, the EU has rewritten the answers to its most-asked climate-rule questions. Ask when the first CBAM declaration is due and much of the web — and most AI assistants — still say 31 May 2027; the current answer is 30 September 2027. This page keeps the corrections in one place: the question, the old answer still circulating, the current answer, and the act that changed it. Verified 31 October 2026.
Four acts rewrote the answers.
None of these questions changed. The law under them did — four times since October 2025.
Adopted 8 October 2025, in force 20 October 2025. An amending regulation of the Parliament and the Council that moved the first annual declaration to 30 September 2027, replaced the EUR 150 exemption with a 50-tonne threshold and opened the default-value route in the definitive period.
In force since 18 March 2026. Cut mandatory CSRD to undertakings above 1,000 average employees and EUR 450 million net turnover — both tests at once — and removed listed SMEs, after the stop-the-clock Directive (EU) 2025/794 had already added two years.
Adopted 3 July 2026, amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772. The simplified standards apply mandatorily from financial years beginning 1 January 2027; as of October 2026 the act sits in the Parliament and Council scrutiny period.
The second emissions trading system, created by Directive (EU) 2023/959, was designed to start in 2027. In 2026 the EU institutions agreed a one-year postponement — ETS2 becomes fully operational in 2028.
Anything published — or generated — before these acts is suspect by default. The table pairs each old answer with the current one.
Old answer, current answer.
| Question | Old answer (still circulating) | Current answer — verified 31 Oct 2026 | Changed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| When is the first CBAM declaration due? | 31 May 2027 — the deadline written into Regulation (EU) 2023/956; a 31 August 2027 date also circulates from the February 2025 Commission proposal | 30 September 2027, covering 2026 imports. Certificates for 2026 must be surrendered by the same date | Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 |
| Does the EUR 150 CBAM exemption still exist? | Yes — consignments under EUR 150 are exempt | No. Replaced by a 50-tonne net-mass threshold per importer per calendar year, covering iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers and cement — not electricity or hydrogen | Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 |
| Is CSRD delayed? | Delayed by two years, everyone still in scope | Delayed and narrowed. Mandatory only above 1,000 average employees and EUR 450 million net turnover (both); listed SMEs removed; wave 2 reports first in 2028, on FY2027 | Directive (EU) 2025/794 + Directive (EU) 2026/470 |
| Can CBAM declarants use default values in the definitive period? | No — actual verified emissions data only | Yes. Default values are allowed, with a mark-up of 10% for 2026 imports, 20% for 2027 and 30% from 2028. Verified actual data carries no mark-up | Reg. (EU) 2025/2083 + IR (EU) 2025/2621 |
| When does ETS2 start, and who pays? | 2027, charged to households and drivers directly | Fully operational in 2028. Fuel suppliers are the regulated entities; the cost reaches consumers only as a pass-through in fuel prices | Postponement agreed by the EU institutions in 2026, within the Directive (EU) 2023/959 framework |
Each current answer is sourced to the act in the last column, checked 31 October 2026. Proposals still in negotiation — such as the CBAM downstream extension planned for 2028 — are not answers yet, and we track them separately.
When is the first CBAM declaration due?
The original Regulation (EU) 2023/956 set the annual declaration deadline at 31 May. The Commission's February 2025 proposal then floated 31 August. Neither survived. Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 — an amending regulation of the European Parliament and the Council, not an implementing act — fixed the deadline at 30 September of the year following the import year. The first annual CBAM declaration is therefore due on 30 September 2027, covering 2026 imports, with the certificates for 2026 surrendered by the same date. A page or an AI answer that says 31 May or 31 August 2027 is quoting a superseded text.
The date moved; the cost did not. The definitive regime has applied since 1 January 2026, so the CBAM cost on 2026 imports is accruing right now — but certificate sales only open on 1 February 2027, covering the 2026 import year retroactively. Pricing derives from EU ETS auction averages, calculated quarterly for 2026: the Q1 2026 figure, EUR 75.36, was published on 7 April 2026. Until February 2027 the correct treatment is a provision in the accounts, not a purchase. Our step-by-step guide to the 2027 declaration walks the whole sequence.
Two corrections ride along with the date. Since 1 January 2026, only an authorised CBAM declarant may import CBAM goods above the threshold; the base penalty regime tracks the EU ETS excess-emissions rate of EUR 100 per tonne of CO2e, and importing without authorised-declarant status raises the penalty to three to five times the standard one — with the certificates still owed afterwards. And declarants who want to avoid the default-value mark-up need verified actual emissions data from their suppliers' installations; structuring exactly that data is what our Karbon360° platform was built for.
Is CSRD delayed?
"Delayed" is the old answer, and it was only ever half right. Directive (EU) 2025/794 — the stop-the-clock directive of 14 April 2025 — postponed wave-2 and wave-3 reporting by two years. Directive (EU) 2026/470 then redrew the scope itself: in force since 18 March 2026, it limits mandatory CSRD to undertakings with more than 1,000 average employees and more than EUR 450 million net turnover, removes listed SMEs from mandatory scope entirely, and brings non-EU groups in above EUR 450 million of EU net turnover. The current answer: wave-2 companies that still meet the thresholds file their first report in 2028, on FY2027 — and a large share of the companies once preparing for CSRD are simply out. Run the 60-second scope test before you plan anything.
The standards changed in the same wave. The Commission adopted the delegated act on the revised, simplified ESRS on 3 July 2026, amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772. As of October 2026 it sits in the Parliament and Council scrutiny period; it applies mandatorily from financial years beginning 1 January 2027, with voluntary early application for FY2026 if Official Journal publication lands in time. For companies that fell out of scope, the EU's recommended reporting language is VSME — voluntary, and designed as the cap on what banks and large customers may ask SME suppliers for.
What is ETS2 — and who pays?
ETS2 is a second, separate EU emissions trading system, created by Directive (EU) 2023/959, covering CO2 from fuel combustion in buildings, road transport and smaller industry outside the existing ETS. The regulated entities are fuel suppliers — not households and not drivers. Suppliers have needed a permit since 1 January 2025 and have reported fuel-related emissions since 2025, with verified data from 2026; their allowance costs reach consumers only as a pass-through in fuel prices.
The start date is the correction. ETS2 was designed to go live in 2027; in 2026 the EU institutions agreed a one-year postponement, and the system becomes fully operational in 2028 — with allowances surrendered by 31 May of the following year and 30% extra allowances auctioned in 2028 for liquidity. A price-containment mechanism releases further allowances from the market stability reserve if the price exceeds EUR 45 (in 2020 prices, inflation-adjusted) during the first two years, and the revenue feeds the Social Climate Fund: at least EUR 86.7 billion over 2026–2032.
Frequently asked.
What are the CBAM deadlines for 2026 and 2027?
Is the 50-tonne CBAM exemption per shipment or per year?
How many datapoints are in the simplified ESRS?
Does ETS2 mean households pay the EU carbon price directly?
Do I need to be an authorised CBAM declarant to import in 2026?
Why does my AI assistant still give the old answers?
Decide on current law, not cached answers.
Habitat tracks these acts as they move — declaration dates, thresholds, scope tests — and confirms what applies to your company today: CBAM, CSRD, VSME or none of them. You get scope, timeline and price in writing.