The Consumer Choice Center criticizes the growing burden that the new EU packaging rules place on small and medium-sized retailers.
“The European Commission claims it wants to strengthen the European Single Market, but in reality, this regulation is driving small retailers out of it. Good intentions do not make for good policy. When a small retailer has to navigate registration requirements, reporting obligations and additional costs just to send a handful of parcels to another EU country, free trade quickly turns into bureaucratic border controls. A Single Market in which small retailers have to stop shipping across borders because the bureaucracy no longer makes economic sense is not a functioning Single Market. What has been warned about for months is now becoming reality: less choice, less competition and ultimately higher prices for consumers.
The Commission must stop this misguided approach — not someday, but now. We call on the Commission to pause these misguided regulations with immediate effect and undertake a comprehensive overhaul. It is not enough to announce that the rules will be reviewed at some point in the future when the damage is happening now,” said Jens Teutrine, Germany Policy Analyst at the Consumer Choice Center .
Since today, August 12, 2026, the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has created significant additional regulatory burdens for cross-border shipments to end consumers. Businesses that ship goods directly to other EU Member States must comply with the respective national requirements of the destination country. These include, among other things, registration requirements, participation in packaging recovery systems, reporting of packaging volumes and, where applicable, the appointment of an authorized representative. While such fixed costs are easier for large companies to absorb, they can make cross-border sales economically unviable for small retailers with low shipping volumes.