Riegel/Brussels, 9 January 2026 – The Gerber Group has today formally alerted the European Commission to serious errors and inconsistencies in the recently published CBAM default values. The default values were published on 31 December 2025 in the Official Journal of the European Union.
CBAM default values with numerous significant irregularities
Already upon an initial review, the Gerber Group identified numerous significant irregularities, particularly with regard to Taiwan in the stainless steel segment. These include missing or clearly incorrect emission values, contradictory assumptions regarding CO2 intensity across production stages, as well as technical errors in the publication itself. In some cases, semi-finished products are shown to generate higher emissions than further processed products – an outcome that is industrially implausible.
Published default values for Taiwan copied from other origin
Furthermore, the published figures suggest that the default values for Taiwan are not based on an independent and country-specific data set, but appear to have been largely copied from values used for other origins. This approach is factually problematic, as Taiwan has its own production structures, particularly in electric arc furnace (EAF) stainless steel production, and therefore cannot be treated as equivalent to unrelated production locations.
It must be assumed that even more mistakes were made
In the Gerber Group’s assessment, it must be assumed that these issues are not limited to a single country of origin, but may affect multiple origins and product groups. A comprehensive review of the CBAM default values therefore appears to be urgently required.
“The current CBAM default values create considerable legal and economic uncertainty for the companies affected,” stated Thorsten Gerber, CEO of the Gerber Group. “Erroneous or inconsistent emission values run counter to the principles of good administration and undermine planning certainty for market participants.”
Gerber Group has called on the Commission to correct the errors without delay
The Gerber Group has called on the European Commission to correct the identified errors without delay and to republish consistent, robust, and reliable default values as soon as possible.
Thorsten Gerber said: “We expect an immediate response from the Commission setting out how the errors will be corrected and the necessary legal certainty restored.”
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