Every item ordered from a web shop outside the bloc and sent to an EU consumer will carry a handling fee, after the European Parliament adopted a reform of e-commerce and customs rules. The fee is meant to cover the rising cost of processing individual parcels, which the Parliament says have been overwhelming customs. Member states must start collecting it by 1 November 2026 at the latest.
The amount is not set in the legislation. The European Commission will decide the figure, and it will be revised every two years so it tracks actual costs. The charge falls on whoever already pays the other customs charges for a parcel, not on the consumer directly at the till. No per-parcel amount or percentage appears in the text.
Sellers and the platforms that facilitate distance sales from outside the EU are now treated as importers. That means they must hand customs authorities all required data, pay or guarantee the charges, and make sure the goods meet EU law. They also have to be established in the EU or appoint a representative based there, and that representative needs authorised economic operator or trusted trader status. The aim is to stop shell companies from sidestepping the rules, and non-EU sellers are being nudged toward running EU warehouses instead.
Shipments sent on to clients inside the EU can qualify for a lower handling fee, but only if they are packaged collectively and moved in large quantities. Enforcement is where the reform bites hardest. Repeat offenders face fines of at least 1% of their import value over the previous 12 months, and those fines can reach 6%. Customs authorities may also suspend, revoke or annul trusted trader or AEO status, and flag the companies as high-risk operators. Firms that are compliant and transparent can instead enter a simplified trust and check regime, which starts with vetting and electronic system access and then brings fewer checks and more flexibility on paying duties. The existing AEO qualification stays available for smaller operators.
Under the hood sits a new pan-European customs IT system called the EU Data Hub, run by a new EU customs authority known as EUCA. Use of the hub is optional by 2031 and mandatory by 2034. It replaces at least 111 separate customs software systems, and the Parliament says it will make declarations and communication with customs easier for companies while improving risk analysis and cross-border cooperation. EUCA will be based in Lille, France, and is expected to be fully operational immediately, coordinating customs cooperation, risk management and the data hub.
The Council has already given its final formal agreement, so the Parliament vote was the last step in the procedure. The reform is due to be signed into law, with signature scheduled for Wednesday at 16.00 CEST, publication in the Official Journal expected as soon as possible, and entry into force set for the day after. Member states then have 12 months before they must apply the new rules in full.
The package responds to the surge in parcels arriving from non-EU web shops, which the Parliament describes as a gateway for unsafe products. The Commission launched the customs code reform in May 2023. Rapporteur Dirk Gotink (EPP, NL) called it "the biggest reform of European customs since 1968" and said it ends "the highly toxic business model of cheap non-compliant and dangerous imports from China".
