This is how the EU would curb Temu

Also targeting Chinese marketplaces

In recent years, Asian online marketplaces such as Temu or Shein have gained increasing popularity, often offering free shipping to the EU – typically directly from the manufacturer to the customer. This is attractive to price-sensitive European consumers, but poses serious challenges for customs authorities and internal market regulations.

The proposal would charge €2 for parcels delivered directly to consumers, and €0.50 for parcels delivered to logistics centres and warehouses. The latter category would affect dropshipping and fulfilment models.

“This is merely to compensate for the costs of the work carried out by customs authorities,” Sefcsovics stressed before the European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee.

Explosive parcel volume: an unsustainable system

In 2024, the EU imported more than 4.6 billion parcels under €150 – an average of more than 12.5 million parcels per day. The system has become overloaded, while product safety and environmental considerations have also been pushed into the background. According to the Commission, the current regulation effectively turns consumers into their own importers, while customs controls and product quality checks are impossible.

The problem does not only affect the authorities: cheap, often low-quality products also generate significant waste due to their short lifespan, which is also a concern from an environmental perspective.

The first step in a comprehensive customs reform

The introduction of the handling fee is only the first element of a comprehensive reform package that also aims to create a single EU customs authority and introduce a common IT system. According to the original schedule, the reform would have entered into force in 2028, but the Commission would launch the new system as early as 2026.

The vast majority of EU decision-makers agree on the proposal that regulatory reform is inevitable. However, it is still questionable how large international e-commerce players will react to the new burdens – in particular Temu, which was already forced to transform its business model due to US customs regulations.

A heated debate is expected to unfold in the coming months on issues affecting consumer prices, supply chains and the future of the European digital market – at stake: how to regulate global e-commerce flows in a fair and sustainable way.