Today the Commission presented its strategy on how to tackle the massive surge of cheap imported goods via e-commerce platforms. Around 4.6 billion of such low-value items (less than 150 Euro) came into the EU in 2024. This is twice the amount recorded in 2023 and four times more than in 2022. We are talking about 12 million parcels per day. Almost all of them from China. Plenty of the packages show signs of defect or intellectual property infringements.
Renew Europe welcomes the strategy. The EU must do more to stop unsafe products from entering our market.
Anna Stürgkh (NEOS, Austria), who is currently negotiating an upcoming parliamentary report on e-commerce, said :
"Our SMEs play by the book and craft safe products that last. We cannot let them be undercut by unsafe cheap imports from platforms like Temu. It is a matter of fairness for our companies. It is also a matter of safety for our citizens. I do not want my child to choke on or be exposed to hazardous toys. Imported low-value goods cannot be no-standards goods."
Svenja Hahn (FDP, Germany), our coordinators on internal market affairs and consumer protection, added:
"Online shopping has become part of the daily lives of Europeans, creating new opportunities for businesses. But Illegal and unsafe products have no place in our internal market. They must be stopped before they are sold. The EU Commission and Member States must rigorously enforce applicable law, such as the Digital Service Act and the new product safety rules. Customs must also be modernized and digitized throughout the whole EU so that the digital pre-registration of parcels from third countries and the removal of the 150 Euro duty exemption are possible and have a real impact."
