The EU Council of Economic and Finance Ministers has approved the removal of the threshold that currently allows shipments worth less than 150 euros to enter the single market duty-free, essentially mirroring the approach taken by Trump in the United States. According to discussions at Ecofin, full implementation is scheduled for 2028: from that point on, all parcels arriving from outside the Union will be subject to duty from the very first euro of declared value. The measure is intended to curb the sharp rise in low-cost micro-shipments, largely driven by purchases made through Asian e-commerce platforms.
The urgency of the trend has prompted ministers to consider an earlier phase-in. As indicated by the Danish presidency, technical work aims to define a transitional proposal for 2026 by December, in order to shorten the gap between political approval and effective entry into force.
The reform reshapes the current tariff structure, which in the Union ranges from 2% to 12% depending on the category of goods, with higher rates for textiles, clothing and footwear. These amounts are added to the customs clearance fees applied by couriers, currently between 2 and 7 euros in Italy, along with the handling fee established under the new European customs framework. For very low-value products, the combined effect of these charges can significantly raise the final price.
Several national administrations are assessing their own tools to manage the effects of the reform. France intends to include the measure in its next budget, while Italy is considering a national levy of around 2 euros for parcels under two kilogrammes. These interventions are separate from the European duty, but have a similar impact in terms of cost distribution.
According to the Commission, abolishing the threshold aims to strengthen traceability, controls and competition among operators, aligning the fiscal treatment of shipments regardless of their value or country of origin. The new European data hub, the core of the system planned for 2028, will allow systematic cross-checking of commercial information, customs declarations and courier data, reducing the risk of under-declared values and regulatory loopholes linked to micro-shipments.
As with all duties, these charges will ultimately be paid by the recipients of the goods, who are always EU-based. Additional costs must also be considered for developing the tools required to collect duties and for the adjustments needed across the entire logistics chain, including IT systems, sorting processes and the operational capacity of entry points.
Couriers will have to streamline processing times and document flows, while for non-EU e-commerce operators, adapting declaration procedures will become crucial to keeping delivery times under control and preventing excessive cost increases. The impact on consumers will depend on whether platforms and couriers choose to absorb these new charges or pass them on downstream.
