Discussions had been going on for months at the summit of the European Union (EU). They resulted in a “historic agreement”, in the words of Dutch MEP Dirk Gotink, around customs reform. Its declared objective: to curb the “exponential” flow of small e-commerce parcels, coming from countries outside the EU, with a series of measures which will gradually come into force by 2028 – with the creation of a European customs authority, based in Lille (North). In the viewfinder: Asian platforms such as Shein, Temu, AliExpress, and their collections of clothing, jewelry, decorative objects and furniture at knockdown prices which are sweeping across Europe.
Individual, low-value packages “overwhelm European customs authorities and provide a gateway to the EU for dangerous products,” recalls a press release from the European Parliament. In 2025, the European Union received 5.8 billion (12 million per day) of low-value goods.