This topic is very frustrating for me and I had to think if I even want to write about it on my blog. On August 12th 2026 European Union backstabbed small business based in EU once again. New packaging and recycling regulations require everyone – no exemption – to have a representative in a country a business ships to. And having a representative comes with a hefty price.
If you run a small, independent online shop, you already know how difficult it is to compete. Between platform fees, shipping rate hikes, the constant hustle of creating or curating your products and trying to find your audience, every sale matters. For some reason my handmade products are more popular in bordering countries. That’s why I registered and paid the recycling fees based on “old” regulations. But for European Union that wasn’t enough – now I have to stop shipping abroad all together. And I know I am far from the only one.
The Illusion of the “Small Business” Exemption
Under the EU’s framework, including the rules surrounding Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and the newer Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), regulatory bodies often point to carve-outs for “small businesses”.
The catch? According to the EU definition, a “small business” or micro-enterprise can pull in up to 2 million euros in revenue per year and have up to 9 employees.
To a multinational corporation or a mid-sized e-commerce brand, 2 million euros is small. But to a solo maker, even if it is a registered business, or a tiny creative studio shipping a few parcels a month (if that), that definition is entirely detached from reality.
When you operate a micro-business, you are the customer service department, the shipping clerk, the accountant and the creator. You don’t have a compliance department or a legal team.
Yet, under the implemented system, selling a single lightweight package across an EU border triggers a staggering bureaucratic chain reaction.
You are now expected to register separately in the national producer registry of every single EU country you ship to. You are require to hire and pay for a local authorized representative (and it can cost thousands per year per country). You face annual baseline fees and administrative overheads that bear zero relation to your actual physical impact or sales volume.
And there’s no micro-business exemption. If I sell five items a year to customers in three different EU countries, the fixed compliance and registration costs alone would put me into debt. Yes, small guys like me pay the same rates big corporations do. That’s why I turned international shipping off on my website and in my Etsy Shop.
The Environmental Irony
The stated goal of these regulations is noble: to reduce packaging waste and hold producers accountable for their environmental footprint. As someone writing about a “No Buy Year” and sustainability, I deeply care about waste reduction.
But punishing low volume EUROPEAN creators does nothing to curb industrial waste. Massive corporations that mass-produce single use plastics can easily absorb these compliance costs as a routine line item in their accounting. Meanwhile, a local maker shipping handmade goods is priced out of international trade entirely.
Instead of targeting massive polluters where the actual volume and waste sits, the current regulations create invisible trade barriers within Europe, suffocating ecosystem of independent artisans and micro-entrepreneurs. And, in my opinion, goes against the fundamentals and reasons why European Union has been created in the first place.
Stopping cross-border shipments to the EU wasn’t a choice I wanted to make. I love knowing that my work has found homes in other countries and meet people who appreciate my work. But as a micro-business owner, I have to be realistic. I cannot afford that. When regulation treats a solo operation shipping 10 boxes a year the same way it treats a multinational shipping 10 million, the math simply stops working.
If policies don’t evolve to recognize true micro-operations, for example by introducing sensible de minimis weight thresholds or simplified, single-window European registries, we risk erasing the independent maker economy entirely.
We will be stuck with Aliexpress, Temu and Amazon landfill loop. This new regulation was disguised as a way to fight with big corporations flooding our market with cheap (sometimes dangerous) goods, without any consequences. Instead, it’s only helping them dominate the market.
It is a frustrating topic for me, because European Union betrayed us once again. As a part of my No Buy Year, I won’t be spending any money on this ridiculousness. Instead, I’m considering my choices and will probably close my operation all together.
No Buy Year 
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