Public consultation on CO2 markets and infrastructure in the EU
On 6 October, the European Commission launched an open public consultation on upcoming legislation and impact assessment for CO2 markets and infrastructure.
To meet the EU’s climate neutrality target by 2050, industrial carbon management (ICM) will play a crucial role alongside renewable energy and energy efficiency. Building on the Industrial Carbon Management Strategy, adopted in February 2024, the European Commission has now launched a public consultation on an upcoming legislative initiative for CO2 markets and infrastructure.
🗓️ The consultation is open until 9 January 2026.
➡️ Participate before 9 January 2026: Legislative initiative on CO2 transportation infrastructure and markets
ICM is essential to address hard-to-abate industrial emissions and to maintain a competitive, decarbonised industrial base in the EU. However, the CO2 value chain is still in its early stages. Limited infrastructure, regulatory fragmentation, and investment risks are slowing progress.
The upcoming legislative proposal aims to create a well-functioning, competitive, and integrated EU CO2 market, ensuring that captured CO2 can be safely and efficiently transported, stored, or utilised across borders.
✅ Key topics covered in the consultation include:
📌 Regulatory framework design, ensuring investor confidence, flexibility, and long-term predictability.
📌 Cross-border CO2 transport, removing barriers linked to international treaties and aligning with neighboring countries.
📌 Infrastructure planning and permitting, improving coherence and speeding up authorisations under TEN-E, NZIA, and the CCS Directive.
📌 Market access and third-party rules – defining access rights, financing models, and governance structures for CO2 networks.
📌 CO2 quality standards, supporting the development of common European standards to enable interoperability and avoid market fragmentation.
This initiative is expected to become a cornerstone of the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal, providing the regulatory and financial foundations for scaling up industrial carbon management technologies.