Action 5
Align with the EU Emission Trading System and/or introduce carbon pricing instruments
ROADMAP PROGRESS
The 2025 GARI reports growing clarity on carbon pricing across the WB6, all of which committed under the 2020 Sofia Declaration to introduce a carbon-pricing instrument. The Impact Assessment for a regional Emissions Trading System, prepared for the Energy Community, set out four carbon-pricing options. At its 23rd meeting in December 2025 the Energy Community Ministerial Council recognised that the WB6 preferred to develop carbon-pricing models suited to their circumstances while aiming for alignment with the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) on accession, and mandated a technical working group to coordinate gradual implementation. The state of carbon pricing in WB6 can be found in Energy Community’s CBAM Readiness Tracker1.
Concrete steps are emerging: Serbia’s carbon tax, adopted in 2025, has been applied since 1 January 2026, and Montenegro’s ETS is in place with its MRVA framework due to become operational in 2026. Others remain at earlier stages, with instruments under consideration or in draft legislation, while continued reliance on coal alongside comparatively low GDP per capita constrains the scope for a high carbon price.
Source: Energy Community Secretariat; domestic legislation. Data compiled in Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) (2025) Report on the Implementation of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans Action Plan (GARI 2025), Tables 2 and 3.
Note: Action 5 of the original Green Agenda Action Plan (2021–2030), which calls for alignment with the EU Emissions Trading System and/or the introduction of carbon pricing instruments, is retained under the Revised Action Plan (2025–2030).
In the Revised Plan, this objective is framed more explicitly through the establishment and operationalisation of Monitoring, Reporting, Verification and Accreditation (MRVA) systems, alignment with the relevant EU implementing regulations, and preparation for participation in the EU ETS upon accession and/or the introduction of domestic carbon pricing mechanisms.
1 https://www.energy-community.org/news/Energy-Community-News/2025/10/20.html