In less than six months, a major economic change will take place in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the citizens will pay the price for that change. How much that price will be will depend solely on the BiH authorities.
Source: klix.ba
Namely, it is now definitive that domestic companies will pay a tax on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the European Union from January 1st next year, called the Carbon Boundary Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
The reason for this is that the BiH government has not yet met the key conditions for us to be exempt from paying CBAM, and these conditions are the formation of an electricity exchange, the interconnection of electricity markets, the establishment of an internal CO2 emission quota trading system (EU ETS) or so-called pollution rights, and a climate neutrality strategy by 2050.
If Bosnia and Herzegovina had established the EU ETS, the money from the purchase of quotas would flow into the budgets of domestic institutions, and the CBAM would flow into the EU budget.
What is CBAM
The Union applies CBAM to all trading partners outside the EU. If this were not the case, then it would treat its economic entities that already pay taxes on harmful gas emissions unequally.
One of the main goals is to force companies in and outside the EU to switch to renewable energy sources and thereby reduce environmental pollution. If there were no CBAM and EU ETS, then it would not make much sense for the EU alone to tax its companies. The introduction of CBAM will most affect the electricity companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina as significant exporters of electricity mainly produced from fossil fuels, primarily coal. Accordingly, they will be forced to change their production practices, i.e. use more renewable energy sources in their production. The EU has been pointing out CBAM to domestic authorities for four years, but despite this, they have done very little to avoid it.
How CBAM works
Exporters from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU will have to submit reports on their annual CO2 emissions to their buyers in the Union starting next year. The buyer in the EU will buy certificates based on the amount of CO2 emitted (e.g. 100 certificates for 100 tons of CO2). The certificates are purchased from the competent national body. The Union will check whether the data in the reports of BiH exporters is accurate, and if it is inaccurate or falsified, sanctions are foreseen.
Companies emitting up to 50 tons of CO2 will be exempted from CBAM, which will help small and medium-sized enterprises. The obligations of domestic companies towards their partners in the EU will be to communicate with these partners, collect data for the preparation of CBAM reports (the biggest challenge will be the calculation of CO2 emissions), prepare quarterly CBAM reports, and constantly monitor changes within CBAM and their production process.
How much does CBAM cost
The price of CBAM per ton of CO2 is variable, and this change depends on the market. For example, at one point the price was 180 euros per ton of CO2.
The EU is continuously putting pressure on the BiH authorities to intensify the transition to renewable energy sources, so that ultimately the environment is less polluted and the cost of environmental pollution is lower. However, according to sources from the Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina is the worst-performing country in Europe in terms of regulations on this issue. The fact that a large Danish company rejected an invitation to invest in the production of electricity from renewable sources, despite the fact that Herzegovina has enormous potential in this field, also shows how alarming the situation is.
In addition to poor regulations, an additional problem is the outdated infrastructure (transmission lines) for the transmission of electricity.
Given that the calculation of CBAM is very complex, no one knows exactly how much CBAM will affect the BiH economy. What is known is that it will be dramatic and that citizens will ultimately pay for it through more expensive energy, and therefore more expensive goods and services. The implementation of CBAM will begin in 2026, with charges starting in 2027 for 2026.






















