Online shopping shock: €3 fee on every small parcel entering EU

The European Union will impose a fixed €3 customs duty on small parcels imported into the EU, effective 1 July 2026. The decision, approved by EU finance ministers, aims to address the growing volume of e?commerce shipments entering the bloc without duties. Currently, small parcels with a declared value below €150 are exempt from customs duties. That exemption has long encouraged cheap online purchases from non?EU platforms, particularly those based in China, but it has been criticised for disadvantaging EU sellers and complicating customs oversight. In the past decade, cross-border e-commerce has grown dramatically, with billions of parcels arriving duty-free…