The European Parliament has adopted proposals which would manage the growing influx into the EU of substandard and potentially dangerous cheap goods from non-EU web shops.
Unfair competition from third-country marketplaces and traders continues to grow, harming EU retailers and undermining consumer safety.
A Parliament report identifies ways to alleviate the pressure on customs and market surveillance authorities struggling to check and ensure the safety of the 12 million small e-commerce packages arriving in the EU every day.
So-called “warehousing might be one helpful solution to check and ensure the safety of packages, MEPs say. This would involve convincing non-EU traders to set up warehouses inside the EU to process client deliveries. Checking their bulk shipments of similar goods into these EU-based warehouses would be considerably easier than checking individual packages coming to the EU from third countries.
MEPs also supported removal of the current customs duty exemption for goods worth less than €150 in the framework of the wider Customs Code reform, as approximately 65% of parcels entering the EU are deliberately undervalued.
The report gives some support to the Commission’s proposal to impose a €2 handling fee for individual e-commerce packages from outside the EU, as announced in its communication on e-commerce. MEPs want the Commission to verify that this amount is proportionate, compliant with WTO rules, and would not be passed on to EU consumers.
The report suggests that digitalisation and especially the use of new AI tools and block chain technology might ease the customs overload and make checks more efficient. MEPs urge EU member states to allocate more money to customs authorities for the uptake of these new tools. They call on the EU to focus on implementing existing rules and make sure platforms fulfil their obligations.
The MEPs also want EU member states to restrict high-risk vendors from operating in their critical infrastructure and border security systems, such as for the procurement of security screening and cargo scanning equipment used at airports and ports.
Some of the proposals adopted will now be discussed during negotiations between the Parliament and EU Council on a major reform of Union’s Customs Code that started yesterday on 8 July 2025.
Further information, European Parliament
