On Wednesday 9 July, the European Parliament adopted the own-initiative report by Salvatore De Meo (EPP, Italian) on products from online trading platforms (see EUROPE 13668/13).
With 619 votes in favour, 26 against and 46 abstentions, MEPs approved a list of measures to combat the massive influx of products mainly from China via platforms such as Temu, Shein and AliExpress.
The report supports the introduction of a handling fee of €2 on parcels, as proposed by the Commission. This is to be discussed during the forthcoming inter-institutional negotiations (trilogues) on the reform of the Union Customs Code (see EUROPE 13669/13).
Similarly, the MEPs are in favour of abolishing the customs duty exemption for parcels below €150, knowing that approximately 65% of parcels entering the EU are subject to deliberate undervaluation.
During the debate preceding the vote, MEPs expressed broad support for the report and for the Commission’s recent initiative (see EUROPE 13582/8).
A number of MEPs, including those from Renew Europe and the S&D group, also stressed the importance of strict enforcement of the Digital Services Act, which is now seen as the EU’s best tool for ensuring the compliance and accountability of online sales platforms.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/hsp (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)