The European Commission is considering imposing carbon tariffs on imports from countries without binding targets for cutting emissions, as it puts the finishing touches to its post-2012 climate change plan.

The plan sets out a raft of proposals for phase III of the European Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), which is scheduled to kick off in 2013.

According to Reuters, a preliminary draft of the plan would require companies importing goods into the EU from countries without stringent emission restrictions to buy EU emissions permits.

The proposals are being hotly debated. Opponents claim such a tariff would be difficult to implement and would spark trade disputes, while supporters argue it would ensure that European firms subject to the EU's stringent emissions legislation could compete on a level playing field with rivals in China, India and the US.

Such legislation would also increase incentives for manufacturers in developing economies such as China and India to tackle carbon emissions. Recent research from the Tyndall Centre found that almost a quarter of China's emissions were generated through the manufacture and export of goods to the West.

Separately, the Commission's draft plan also confirmed that phase III of the ETS will be significantly tougher than phase II, which kicked off last week.

Under the new proposals, electricity generators would get for free just half the permits that they receive now and other companies would get 90 per cent.

Currently, less than 10 per cent of the emission permits in the scheme are auctioned to polluters with the rest being distributed for free, but according to reports in German financial newspaper Handelsblatt, the Commission plans to auction 60 per cent of all emission permits from 2013.

Such a move would lead to a huge increase in the price of carbon and result in massive financial costs for firms based directly on their carbon emissions.