Greek market insiders have told Kathimerini they doubt whether new EU measures will be enough to slow the rapid rise of Chinese e-commerce giants Shein and Temu, whose penetration in Greece, they noted, is far higher than in most European markets.
EU finance ministers agreed Thursday to reintroduce duties on parcels valued under €150 – a category heavily used by the two platforms and previously exempt from tax. The duties will now return in early 2026 instead of 2028, with the European Commission proposing a €2 fee per parcel.
“That’s a start, but not enough,” said Giannis Hatzitheodosiou, president of the Athens Professional Chamber, noting that business groups had pushed for a national €7 fee due to the exceptional impact in Greece.
Hatzitheodosiou said the reach of such e-commerce platforms is greatest in markets hit by high inflation and reduced consumer purchasing power.
He stressed that Shein and Temu’s market penetration in Greece exceeds 15% – with some estimates reaching 20% – compared with just 2% in the Netherlands, while the companies currently pay no taxes or VAT on sub-€150 shipments.
Domestic retailers are already feeling the strain. According to the Greek e-Commerce Association, around 80,000 parcels from the two platforms are delivered in Greece every day. Transparency reports show that in the first half of 2025, each platform counted an average of 2.7 million monthly users in the country.
A study by the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE) estimates the combined annual turnover of the two Chinese platforms in Greece at €528-€627 million, while 15 Greek online stores have shut down since the start of the year.
Across the EU, low-value parcels doubled to 4.6 billion last year, all of which will now pass through customs, requiring major upgrades to European processing and data systems.