As an EU resident and consumer, I am directly affected by these charges. The same burden is faced by consumers and households across the European Union, particularly when purchasing low-value goods for household needs, repairs, school supplies and affordable gifts.

This petition calls on the European Parliament to urge the European Commission and the Council of the European Union to repeal the fixed €3 customs duty introduced by Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 and to prevent any additional Union handling fee from becoming a direct or indirect blanket burden on consumers.

The present fixed-charge model is regressive. It undermines the right to repair, increases waste, harms consumers, repairers, small creators and micro-businesses, and penalises purchases even where no European alternative exists.

THE €3 DUTY IS NOT SMALL OR PROPORTIONATE

Since 1 July 2026, a temporary customs duty of €3 applies to items in consignments with an intrinsic value not exceeding EUR 150. In practice, a consignment containing products classified under different tariff headings or product categories can attract the charge more than once.

Depending on the VAT collection method and the point at which the duty is charged, the €3 customs duty may also form part of the amount on which VAT is calculated. Consumers may therefore pay more than the headline amount in some circumstances.

In addition to the existing €3 customs duty, a separate Union handling fee is foreseen under the customs reform and is expected to apply from November 2026 at the earliest. Its amount is still to be determined. Although the platform, seller or other person treated as the importer is formally responsible for customs obligations and payments, the economic cost may still be passed on to consumers through higher prices or additional charges. It must not become another blanket consumer burden.

Although the measure passed through the formal EU legislative process, the information made available did not amount to a clear and meaningful public conversation with the ordinary consumers who would bear its economic effects. Households were effectively presented with a fait accompli once the new charge began appearing in prices and at checkout. Measures with such broad consequences for everyday spending should be preceded by transparent public communication and a genuine opportunity for affected consumers to be heard.

This is neither small nor proportionate.

Adding more than €3 to a replacement component costing EUR 1 represents an effective surcharge of several hundred percent. The same fixed charge is almost insignificant when applied to an expensive product. It therefore places the greatest relative burden on the least expensive purchases and on consumers with the lowest disposable incomes.

THE IMPACT ON HOUSEHOLDS AND ORDINARY FAMILY LIFE

Since 2021, households throughout Europe have experienced significant increases in mortgage payments, rent, food, energy, transport, childcare, school-related costs, healthcare, medicines, insurance and other necessities. Wages have not kept pace for many people.

A low-income household paying a mortgage or rent and raising children does not have unlimited disposable income. Neither does a single person supporting children, elderly parents or other family members on one salary. After essential bills have been paid, purchasing every necessary item at current local retail prices can rapidly exhaust the remaining monthly income of many households.

Most Europeans would genuinely prefer to support local manufacturing and purchase the highest-quality products available. However, this is not a meaningful choice when the price makes those products inaccessible, especially when many small local manufacturers also rely on raw materials and components imported from China or other non-EU countries.

Many consumers would gladly choose recognised premium brands, but ordinary families cannot always afford premium prices for clothing, tools, electronics, household goods and other necessities. People should not be shamed or financially punished for choosing products that provide acceptable or excellent quality at a price they can afford.

International marketplaces also allow families on modest incomes to participate in ordinary social and family traditions, including bringing a gift when visiting relatives or friends and buying birthday and Christmas presents for children and loved ones, without spending sums they cannot afford or sacrificing food, heating, housing or other essential bills. An affordable gift is not automatically a 
poor-quality, disposable or unnecessary product.

THE RIGHT TO REPAIR, SUSTAINABILITY AND SMALL CREATORS

The fixed duty undermines the right to repair. When several inexpensive replacement components receive separate charges, repairing an appliance or electronic device may become less economical than replacing it. This encourages unnecessary disposal, creates additional waste and contradicts the European Union's sustainability and circular-economy objectives.

It also harms hobbyists, craftspeople, repairers, small creators and micro-businesses that depend on specialist materials and components that may not be manufactured or stocked anywhere within the European Union. An additional charge does not create a European alternative where none exists. 
It simply makes the required product more expensive.

THE REALITY OF MODERN SUPPLY CHAINS

The claim that this measure protects European manufacturing also ignores the reality of modern global supply chains.

Large European retailers import enormous quantities of finished goods from China and other manufacturing countries. European manufacturers also frequently depend on imported fabrics, raw materials, chemicals, electronic components, parts and other intermediate goods.

A European brand name, distributor or retail shop does not necessarily mean that a product was manufactured entirely within Europe. In many cases, manufacturing takes place outside the EU, while branding, packaging, distribution, warranty administration or final assembly is handled by a European company.

Major supermarket, fashion, electronics, household and tool retailers can import goods in bulk, spread customs and administrative costs across thousands or millions of units, add their own branding and resell the products at substantially higher prices. Ordinary consumers cannot spread these costs in the same way.

The result is an unfair two-tier system. Large corporations retain access to affordable global manufacturing and materials, while individual consumers are penalised for purchasing directly from the same global supply chain.

ACCESS, CHOICE AND VALUE

This issue is not limited to one product category. It affects clothing, footwear, tools, electronics, replacement parts, household goods, toys, craft supplies, school materials, beauty products, hobby equipment and countless other useful goods.

International marketplaces such as Temu, AliExpress and SHEIN have given European consumers access to a much wider selection of affordable goods. They offer products that may be considerably more expensive, or entirely unavailable, through local retailers. These platforms and their sellers often respond quickly to everyday consumer problems by developing practical and affordable products designed to make daily life easier.

Low price does not automatically mean poor quality. Many affordable products receive strong reviews, remain functional for years and provide reasonable or excellent value for money. In some cases, a similar or identical product is sold by a European retailer at a substantially higher price because of branding, packaging, distribution costs and retail markup.

TARGET UNSAFE GOODS, NOT EVERY AFFORDABLE PURCHASE

Concerns about unsafe, non-compliant, disposable or misleading products are legitimate. However, a blanket charge on every low-value purchase does not measure quality and is not an effective 
product-safety mechanism. 

It makes no distinction between a dangerous product and a safe, highly rated product, or between a disposable novelty and an essential replacement component, educational item or repair tool.

Product safety should be addressed through evidence-based checks, enforcement against 
non-compliant sellers and importers, reliable customer feedback and targeted platform quality-control systems - not by making every affordable product more expensive.

One possible targeted alternative, offered as a practical option rather than as a separate demand of this petition, would be for major marketplaces to maintain systems that allow verified buyers to update or supplement reviews after extended use. A product may appear satisfactory immediately after delivery but fail weeks or months later under normal use. Buyers should be able to report those later failures while distinguishing ordinary product failure from damage caused by the buyer.

Platforms could also review or temporarily suspend listings where a low average rating is supported by repeated verified reports of premature failure, serious defects or misleading descriptions. This would target evidence of genuine problems rather than relying on a blanket duty that penalises every product and every consumer regardless of actual quality or safety.

WE THEREFORE DEMAND

·   Repeal of the fixed €3 customs duty on low-value purchases introduced by Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382.

·   Rejection of any additional general handling fee that becomes a direct or indirect blanket burden on consumers.

·   Without weakening the demand for repeal, an urgent review of proportionate alternatives and targeted exemptions for essential repair parts, specialist components and materials where no reasonably accessible EU alternative exists.

·   Product-safety controls that target genuinely unsafe or non-compliant goods, sellers and importers rather than imposing charges on every low-value purchase.

European consumers are not demanding unsafe products or unregulated trade.

We demand proportionate enforcement, genuine competition, the right to repair, access to affordable goods and the freedom to decide how we spend the income we have earned.

Consumer protection should protect consumers. It should not be used to justify a regressive charge that restricts consumer choice, benefits established retail intermediaries and places the heaviest burden on households with the least disposable income.

Repeal this duty throughout the European Union and prevent it from being replaced by another blanket consumer charge.

This petition has already been submitted to the European Parliament through its official Petitions Portal and is currently awaiting registration and a decision on admissibility. While that process is ongoing, this Change.org petition allows affected consumers to show their support and raise public awareness. If the European Parliament declares the petition admissible and publishes it on the official PETI Portal, supporters will be informed and asked to support it there as well, because signatures collected on Change.org cannot be transferred to the European Parliament’s portal.