EU adds €3 customs fee to small online orders from outside the bloc

From 1 July the European Union applies a fixed customs charge of €3 per item on parcels valued up to €150 that arrive from non‑EU countries. The fee is added to the existing import VAT and is intended to curb the flood of low‑value shipments from platforms such as Temu, Shein and AliExpress, especially those shipped from China. Consumers can reduce the cost by selecting products sold from EU warehouses, a filter now offered by Temu and Shein to show “local stock”.

The same date sees a bundle of reforms in Germany, including a 4.24 % pension increase for more than 21 million retirees, a one‑click tax‑return filing app for up to 11.5 million users, stricter eligibility rules for social assistance, a reduction in airline ticket taxes, criminalisation of transferring traffic penalty points, a €12 entry fee for Cologne Cathedral, and new regulations on wolf hunting. These changes, together with the EU customs fee, are expected to raise online shopping costs for EU consumers while reshaping several domestic policy areas.