This thesis combines a substance-based Material Flow Analysis (MFA) of carbon in the EU economy with a systematic mapping of EU carbon-related policies to assess how well policies align with physical carbon flows. The analysis shows that EU carbon governance is heavily concentrated at the emissions stage, where major fossil and mineral emission flows are covered by multiple regulations, while upstream stages, trade, and material stocks receive far less attention. In particular, fossil fuel imports represent the largest carbon inflow but are not subject to carbon-specific regulatory criteria. The study concludes that EU carbon policies are structurally biased toward downstream emissions rather than carbon flows across the full life cycle, and recommends extending carbon intensity criteria to fossil fuel imports to improve policy coherence and completeness. ... Read more