Post by @toxi@mastodon.thi.ng

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng

2026-10-20 19:35 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.thi.ng/@toxi/117474817880134546 UPDATE2: There've been new developements: https://mastodon.thi.ng/@toxi/117486094261932225 🚨 Please read & act if you're running a small online shop in the EU or are even just a customer of one: These people need your urgent support. Otherwise the still new EU-wide packaging & waste regulation (PPWR) as it currently stands and is in full effect WILL kill most of the small businesses in the EU, incl. the livelihoods of artists, designers, illustrators, makers etc. who're trying to survive by selling physical goods online... The legislation already came online in August, but it's been an utter bureaucratic mess! Official communication and clarification was even worse/absent for many weeks since rollout. An exemption from the most damaging parts for nano/micro-businesses was only voted[1][2] on in parliament today (almost 60(!) days after introduction), but with positive outcome. However, this support by parliament is only a small win and we need more pressure on MEPs to clarify the severity of this situation for the next round(s) of negotiation with the EU Council and member states. To clarify: The most damaging & costly part of this regulation is the requirement for a legal representative in each EU country you want to ship to. The cost of a single representative is several hundred Euro per yer per country. If you're intending to sell to the entire EU, that's worst case 27 middlemen to pay, i.e. (tens of) thousands of Euro in just regulatory fees every single year. It's completely unrealistic, disproportional, nonsensical and against every aspect of the single market principles... It is now easier to sell to outside the EU than it is to sell inside the EU! Make it make sense! The only people this regulation benefits are major retailers and the growing compliance industry! Please boost for visibility! Thank you! 🙏 (Update: added link, punctuation) [1] https://packaging-journal.de/en/the-european-parliament-wants-to-simplify-the-epr-requirements-only-for-small-companies/ [2] https://www.rapporteur.com/news/meps-back-small-business-exemption-from-costly-waste-reduction-compliance/ #PPWR #EU #SME #SaveMicroEnterprises #Legislation #WriteToYourMEP

Replies (9)

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng 2026-10-21 16:09

Since people have been asking what to do, there're several petitions, one of the larger ones (with currently 85k+ signatures) is here: https://www.change.org/p/stop-destroying-eu-micro-businesses-immediate-moratorium-on-cross-border-epr-fees (Please note that this is a non-binding outside petition useful to register & demonstrate public opposition, but it does not have any direct political weight as an official petition done via the EU portal... Still please sign if you can 🙏) I still think directly contacting MEPs in your country will likely be more impactful at this stage... #PPWR #Petititon

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@nosfe@kamu.social 2026-10-21 09:42

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng it's not easier to sell from outside the eu, as also outside sellers are required to do all that shit.

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@gpumoto@mastodon.social 2026-10-21 11:54

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng Too little too late... They have gone bonkers. I have to shut down my shop because of the new PPWR and EPR laws. I am pretty angry about it. The EU and the German government has a "let them eat cake" attitude. Super helpful as the citizens are not responsible for covid or the energy crisis caused by both the war in the Ukraine and Iran. Our governments are 100% responsible for not moving us away from fossil fuels sooner.

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@Offbeatmammal@mastodon.social 2026-10-21 12:05

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng my wife sells her jewellery online from here in Australia. The EU used to provide a small but steady stream of orders and so it made sense to also buy materials from the EU or support other artists in the region. Last month we turned off sales to the EU because it was too hard to justify the effort (and closed her Euro bank account so no reason to buy from there either). I used to think the UK were masters of shooting themselves in the foot, but I start to wonder if it was contagious!

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@janvantomme@mastodon.social 2026-10-21 13:37

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng that’s the reason why I’m not starting a web shop at the moment to sell my eurorack DIY synth kits. I’ll probably have to sell through a distributor and give them part of the profit. The cost per country is too high and would cost me more than I would make if I fully sell my first batch of kits.

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@deirdrebeth@mas.to 2026-10-21 13:46

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng Uh oh @moonrabbit@sunny.garden 😞

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@nervous_jessica@mastodon.social 2026-10-21 14:31

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng I probably need to stop shipping to the EU but I've been delaying doing it to see what happens. We previously had to do this when the GPSR rules were enacted but for that we could hire one representative at least

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@n3wjack@mastodon.social 2026-10-21 15:37

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng How does one act on this? Is there a petition oslt?

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@lacraia@mastodon.social 2026-10-21 17:09

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng This has been on Swedish Radio. Their example was an one-person online shop selling handcrafted things. The owner immediately stopped all exports. This feels like an legislation that has good intentions, but it’s only the really big players that can handle it.

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