A coordinated action against Shein, and a toolbox presented to make e-commerce "safe and sustainable" in Europe: this Wednesday, February 5, the European Commission presented its strategy to combat the "tsunami" of cheap imports that are flooding the Old Continent and that do not comply with European standards.
Over the past three years, the arrival of these products has exploded: nearly 4.6 billion packages that do not exceed 150 euros entered the European market in 2024, which is almost twice as many as in 2023 and three times as many as in 2022, notes the executive, in a press release published this Wednesday. Every day, nearly 12 million of these small packages enter the Old Continent, Brussels details. With such a figure, it is impossible for European customs to carry out effective checks.
96% of products tested and purchased on the platforms do not comply with our standards
This is a problem since "recent evidence and the results of tests carried out by national authorities and consumer organisations leave no doubt: up to 96% of products tested and sold on these platforms do not fully comply with our rules and safety standards", said Michael McGrath, Commissioner for the Rule of Law. In addition to the health and safety hazard, these parcels represent unfair competition for European companies that comply with EU standards.
To put an end to this situation, the European Commission is proposing to strengthen the control capacities of European customs, and to impose a new tax on e-commerce platforms to finance this control – a “non-discriminatory handling tax”.
Customs duty reform to be adopted by 2026
It also calls on the European Parliament and the Council (representing the 27 EU countries) to adopt the customs duty reform proposal initiated in 2023, which would remove the exemption for shipments under €150. For Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, "it is essential to finalise our reform of the customs union and possibly bring it forward to 2026".
The Commission explains that it will control e-commerce platforms more, by launching "specific customs controls", in collaboration with local authorities. It also intends to use existing laws to act against non-European e-commerce platforms such as the DSA (the European Digital Services Regulation) and the DMA (the European Digital Markets Regulation). An awareness campaign will be conducted among European consumers, who are fans of these platforms, Brussels also specifies.
Finally, the Commission invites European legislators and other stakeholders to "work collectively (...) to ensure that every citizen benefits from a trusted online marketplace". In addition to this action plan, Brussels announced that an investigation was being conducted against Shein, in cooperation with the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) network. Other platforms such as Temu and AliExpress are already the subject of formal investigations by the European Commission. An assessment of the actions taken will be carried out in February 2026.
Source: European Commission press release of 5 February 2025
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