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By setting near‐zero‐emission requirements for the production of certain products to be sold on the European single market (product carbon requirements, PCRs), the European Union could accelerate the phase‐out of carbon‐intensive production processes. The announcement of such requirements would send a signal to producers, financing institutions and other relevant stakeholders, thus incentivizing them to prepare for the shift to a carbon‐neutral society. This article analyses several European environmental standards and technical regulations to offer insights into the political, legal and technical background for the adoption of PCRs. It shows that PCRs would constitute a new development in technical regulations. Given the relevance of World Trade Organization law for the adoption of standards and technical regulations on products, the article analyses in further detail the compatibility of PCRs under WTO law, and argues that PCRs can be designed in line with the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

Traditionally discussed measures to prevent carbon leakage under the European Union (EU) emissions trading system, such as the free allocation of allowances or border carbon adjustments, either suffer from significant economic drawbacks or have seen their political, legal and administrative feasibility questioned. Recently, a novel approach has been proposed in the form of the inclusion of consumption into emissions trading schemes. Under this approach, a charge would be imposed on carbon-intensive products at the time of their release for consumption within the EU.

This paper explores whether governments can ban carbon-intensive materials through product carbon requirements. By setting near-zero emission limits for the production of materials to be sold within a jurisdiction, governments would accelerate the phase out of carbon-intensive production processes. Their announcement could alert basic materials producers, financing institutions, and other relevant stakeholders, thus incentivising them to prepare for this shift by dedicating their innovation efforts and investments to climatefriendly production processes and low-carbon materials.The paper analyses various product standards and technical regulations in the European context. The analysis of these standards and technical regulations offers an overview of the types of environmental requirements that the European Union has already adopted. Therefore, it provides a case study of the political, legal, and technical backgrounds for the development of product carbon requirements, both in the EU and beyond. Second, the paper presents an analysis of the provisions in WTO law that would apply to product carbon requirements, underlining the legal arguments in support of their adoption under international trade law.

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