12/08/2026
With no surprise, the shop has no other choice than to stop shipping to the EU entirely. The new PPWR regulations are killing hundreds of thousands of small businesses, mine too. For those who are unaware, these new eco packaging regulations require every seller to comply, register and pay fees for recycling and legal representation in every EU country they want to access to.
I have been, I am and I will be a true supporter of the European union. But...
When your activity was based on free movement of goods within the union for the past decade (as guaranteed by the EU laws), this régulation is a coup de grace wrapped with the veil of environmental protection and written by bureaucrat fu***rs who never touch soil in their life.
A rough but conservative median estimate points to 19k in annual fees to access the 27 EU countries every EU member had unlimited access to before today.
The sole silver lining being a possible exemption for micro businesses to register and/or require legal representation until 2035 (which is not a solution either).
So, what now?
I can still ship to my home country and the USA. However, for me or for all my peers, the choice is either have a reduced to nothing market or try to sell in a country who chose trade wars with allies applying extorting tariffs to its own citizens.
Long story short. We're all pretty much fu**ed. So...
I give my salutes and respect to all my peers who made the EU pedal market alive all these years.
Things can still change and one can hope that, after the abysmal tax revenue numbers, unemployment numbers and business creation numbers the EU council has exposed itself to, a change of course could still happen.
To whomever, collegially voted this law to life,
From the bottom of my heart, go f**k yourself.
🇪🇺
