The European Parliament Research Service published a detailed briefing confirming the scope of the European Commission's upcoming EU ETS revision proposal, due in July 2026. The briefing makes clear that three major structural expansions are on the legislative table — and one of them, CDR integration, already has a political agreement behind it.
A December 2025 agreement between Parliament and the Council established that domestic permanent carbon removals can be used to compensate for hard-to-abate emissions within the EU ETS. This agreement, reached under the revision of the EU Climate Law, provides the legal foundation for linking the Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) to EU compliance demand for the first time.
The Commission is mandated to assess the feasibility of including municipal waste incineration installations in the EU ETS from 2028. This would bring a significant new source of industrial emissions — and a new category of regulated entities — under the carbon price signal, creating both compliance obligations and potential abatement incentives for waste-to-energy operators.
New EU ETS rules for shipping took effect from January 2026. The July revision proposal will assess further maritime scope expansion — specifically medium-sized offshore and cargo vessels not yet covered — as part of aligning maritime emissions with the broader EU 2040 climate target.
At TrustVal, the CDR integration pathway is the single most important structural development to monitor in EU climate policy this year. The December 2025 political agreement means the question is no longer whether permanent CDR will be integrated into ETS compliance — it is how and when. TrustVal advises CDR project developers on CRCF methodology compliance and helps corporate buyers understand how to structure long-term CDR procurement in anticipation of this regulatory demand shift.
European Parliament — Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (Briefing 2026)
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