On Friday 12 December, at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, the European Finance Ministers decided by a very large majority to introduce a fixed customs duty of €3 on small packages worth less than €150 entering the EU. This measure must be in place by 1 July 2026 at the latest.
This is an amendment to EU Council Regulation (1186/2009) setting up a community system of reliefs from customs duty. This decision follows the agreement reached at the previous Ecofin Council to eliminate customs exemption for low-value parcels (see EUROPE 13751/13). The aim is to introduce a temporary customs duty pending implementation of the reform of the Customs Code and, in particular, the EU DataHub.
Ensuring fair competition. “We are celebrating a major step forward, a huge victory for our fellow citizens, our producers, our retailers and, ultimately, for the European economy”, French Minister Roland Lescure was delighted to say on the sidelines of the EU Council meeting. “One by one, we convinced our partners not only that we had to act, but that we had to act quickly”.
This tax will apply to all goods entering the EU for which non-EU sellers are registered with the EU’s Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) for value added tax (VAT) purposes. This concerns 93% of e-commerce flows to the EU. Of the four billion parcels that arrived in the EU in 2024, half were worth less than €3, according to the Minister. They are very poorly declared and difficult to control because there are too many of them.
“Many Member States are seeing local shops close in the face of a massive influx of low-cost, duty-free imports, particularly from China”, stressed Stephanie Lose, the Danish Minister, at a press conference. “We need to ensure fair competition, we demonstrated that we can act quickly and decisively when needed”.
The French ministry said it had encouraged the adoption of a fixed lump sum rather than a proportional tax, to ensure that this would act as a deterrent. This is a charge per category of item and not per unit of item. For example, if a customer buys one hundred identical candles, the lump sum only applies once. The categories are defined by the European Combined Nomenclature.
It will be the registrants, i.e. the online platforms, who will have to pay. This customs duty will be levied at the first point of entry into the EU, at airport hubs. Like all customs duties, it will be an own resource of the EU.
Technical work is still required. France is defending an ambitious timetable and hopes for rapid implementation.
Customs reform. During the public debate, the Minister for Customs gave an update on the progress of negotiations with the European Parliament. “Unfortunately, we have not reached a full agreement, but we have made progress in a number of core building blocks of the customs reform”, she summarised (see EUROPE 13771/6). The co-legislators agreed on the creation of the European Union Customs Authority (EUCA), its main functions and the main parameters of its governance.
At the same time, they launched a procedure to select its headquarters and provisionally agreed new rules for online trading. The current Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) program will be maintained.
The co-legislators were unable to reach agreement on sanctions. “I believe that the sovereignty of the Member States in this area needs to be strictly preserved”, said Mrs Lose. The applicable regime, access to the EU DataHub and the timetable for implementation have yet to be defined.
“The flexibility of the Member States and the Parliament will be essential in reaching a compromise on these important topics. The technical teams must ensure that the new Customs Code is bulletproof”, she said. “I believe that the Danish Presidency has managed to set a very good basis for a quick completion of the work”. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)