The majority is reportedly working on the hypothesis of a tax on non-EU postal parcels. The measure, defined as plausible even at government level, could be included in the manoeuvre after the possibility of including it in the anti-fast fashion, as hypothesised by Mimit, within the competition bill, especially to counter Chinese giants such as Shein and Temu, was blurred for reasons of timing. But this measure can only be included in the manoeuvre if the EU gives the go-ahead first.
Contribution for each shipment from outside the EU under 150 euro
This would be a contribution for each shipment from non-European countries below EUR 150, which would therefore be in line with the European intention – under discussion at the Ecofin on 13 November – to remove the threshold for exemption from tariffs on parcels of the same value. France has already moved in the same direction.
As soon as goodbye to tariffs for small non-EU parcels
Small non-EU parcels without tariffs goodbye: the abolition of customs exemptions at the EUR 150 threshold, which today allows smaller parcels to enter the single market without paying tariffs to Europe, is approaching. On 13 November, the 27 economics ministers, meeting at Ecofin, are expected to give the political green light to the abolition of the exemption, the first step in the reform expected to bring order to the deluge of low-value shipments, often from the large Chinese e-commerce platforms. After the ministers’ OK, the dossier will pass to the trialogue between the Council, Parliament and the Commission, which according to a European official should be concluded by the end of the year. The actual elimination will be triggered as soon as the ‘Eu Customs Data Hub’, the new common IT platform designed to manage import flows in real time, is operational. The hub, which is still under negotiation, is expected to come into operation in 2028, but some countries – starting with France – are pushing for an earlier timetable. ‘We defend an early abolition of the exemption, it seems necessary to us,’ explained sources in the French Ministry of the Economy, recalling ‘the massive influx of parcels from third countries, in particular from China’.
France assumes 2 euro tax on non-EU packages
France, among other things, envisages in the financial manoeuvre under discussion the introduction of a fixed tax of EUR 2 on small non-EU packages: this would be a measure motivated by environmental and tax fairness purposes, qualifying the levy as an internal consumption tax and not as a real tariffs (exclusive European competence). This would be the first measure of its kind in the EU.
Federmoda: good hypothesis of tax on parcels from outside the EU
“There is no time to lose. And on this front we appreciate the majority’s intention to address in this budget manoeuvre the effects on economic and environmental sustainability generated by ultra fast fashion, which, among other things, takes important resources away from our economy and state coffers,’ says Federazione Moda Italia-Confcommercio president Giulio Felloni on the hypothesis of introducing a tax on small non-EU parcels in the Manovra.