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  • Karsten Schmidttoxi@mastodon.thi.ng
    Oct 20, 2026, 7:35 PM

    RE: mastodon.thi.ng/@toxi/11747481

    UPDATE2: There've been new developements:
    mastodon.thi.ng/@toxi/11748609

    🚨 Please read & act if you're running a small online shop in the EU or are even just a customer of one: These people need your urgent support. Otherwise the still new EU-wide packaging & waste regulation (PPWR) as it currently stands and is in full effect WILL kill most of the small businesses in the EU, incl. the livelihoods of artists, designers, illustrators, makers etc. who're trying to survive by selling physical goods online...

    The legislation already came online in August, but it's been an utter bureaucratic mess! Official communication and clarification was even worse/absent for many weeks since rollout. An exemption from the most damaging parts for nano/micro-businesses was only voted[1][2] on in parliament today (almost 60(!) days after introduction), but with positive outcome. However, this support by parliament is only a small win and we need more pressure on MEPs to clarify the severity of this situation for the next round(s) of negotiation with the EU Council and member states.

    To clarify: The most damaging & costly part of this regulation is the requirement for a legal representative in each EU country you want to ship to. The cost of a single representative is several hundred Euro per yer per country. If you're intending to sell to the entire EU, that's worst case 27 middlemen to pay, i.e. (tens of) thousands of Euro in just regulatory fees every single year. It's completely unrealistic, disproportional, nonsensical and against every aspect of the single market principles... It is now easier to sell to outside the EU than it is to sell inside the EU! Make it make sense!

    The only people this regulation benefits are major retailers and the growing compliance industry!

    Please boost for visibility! Thank you! 🙏

    (Update: added link, punctuation)

    [1] packaging-journal.de/en/the-eu
    [2] rapporteur.com/news/meps-back-

    #PPWR #EU #SME #SaveMicroEnterprises #Legislation #WriteToYourMEP

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Replies

  • Karsten Schmidttoxi@mastodon.thi.ng
    Oct 21, 2026, 4:09 PM

    Since people have been asking what to do, there're several petitions, one of the larger ones (with currently 85k+ signatures) is here:

    change.org/p/stop-destroying-e

    (Please note that this is a non-binding outside petition useful to register & demonstrate public opposition, but it does not have any direct political weight as an official petition done via the EU portal... Still please sign if you can 🙏)

    I still think directly contacting MEPs in your country will likely be more impactful at this stage...

    #PPWR #Petititon

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  • Karsten Schmidttoxi@mastodon.thi.ng
    Oct 21, 2026, 4:32 PM

    As with many other issues, the highly fragmented social media landscape is making it very hard to consolidate real up-to-date information and learn about activism efforts related to #PPWR, but if you're impacted I recommend keeping an eye on this hashtag on various platforms and forums...

    Also be warned: You'll also find a mountain of misinformation and wishful thinking reactions related to this topic. People are desperate and it's really unforgivable how various EU political bodies have been dragging their heels during the most crucial time of the year, especially since the problems have been predicted well in advance, months before the regulation came into force...

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  • nosfenosfe@kamu.social
    Oct 21, 2026, 9:42 AM

    @toxi it's not easier to sell from outside the eu, as also outside sellers are required to do all that shit.

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  • Karsten Schmidttoxi@mastodon.thi.ng
    Oct 21, 2026, 9:57 AM

    @nosfe That's true, but I've also not said it'd be easier to sell "from" outside the EU. I said "to" outside the EU (from within)... Regardless, it all is completely hostile to small producers in general, wherever they are...

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  • nosfenosfe@kamu.social
    Oct 21, 2026, 10:11 AM

    @toxi ah yeah, i read wrong then.

    i guess big platforms for selling like amazon and ebay are the winners.

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  • Karsten Schmidttoxi@mastodon.thi.ng
    Oct 21, 2026, 10:50 AM

    @nosfe It very much looks like that, doesn't it? Hard to imagine/accept that this is the intention, essentially forcing (at least some) indie shops to migrate to these mega platforms and getting exposed to all their abuse & shenanigans...

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  • GP-u-Motogpumoto@mastodon.social
    Oct 21, 2026, 11:54 AM

    @toxi Too little too late... They have gone bonkers.

    I have to shut down my shop because of the new PPWR and EPR laws. I am pretty angry about it.

    The EU and the German government has a "let them eat cake" attitude. Super helpful as the citizens are not responsible for covid or the energy crisis caused by both the war in the Ukraine and Iran.

    Our governments are 100% responsible for not moving us away from fossil fuels sooner.

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  • OffbeatmammalOffbeatmammal@mastodon.social
    Oct 21, 2026, 12:05 PM

    @toxi my wife sells her jewellery online from here in Australia. The EU used to provide a small but steady stream of orders and so it made sense to also buy materials from the EU or support other artists in the region. Last month we turned off sales to the EU because it was too hard to justify the effort (and closed her Euro bank account so no reason to buy from there either). I used to think the UK were masters of shooting themselves in the foot, but I start to wonder if it was contagious!

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  • Jan Vantommejanvantomme@mastodon.social
    Oct 21, 2026, 1:37 PM

    @toxi that’s the reason why I’m not starting a web shop at the moment to sell my eurorack DIY synth kits. I’ll probably have to sell through a distributor and give them part of the profit. The cost per country is too high and would cost me more than I would make if I fully sell my first batch of kits.

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  • Karsten Schmidttoxi@mastodon.thi.ng
    Oct 21, 2026, 2:20 PM

    @janvantomme Yeah, I've been reading countless variations of the same story and it's also part of the reason why I've been delaying the launch of my own shop for months now already (but likely will take the plunge anyhow, at least to aim at Germany and outside EU).

    I'm still researching concrete responsibilities (and potential liabilities) of becoming a legal representative, but I've also been toying with an idea to set up a ring of trusted friends/partners in other countries to approach this problem from P2P angle, cutting out middlemen, supporting each other, knowing exactly what kind of packaging and (low) volume/issues to expect...

    (Ps. It's so nice to see you're on Mastodon (again)! 🤩🙌)

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  • laen 🍂moonrabbit@sunny.garden
    Oct 21, 2026, 2:57 PM

    @deirdrebeth @toxi

    tyvm to you both 🙏 france has clearly learning NOTHING from recent unrest. nothing at all apart from how to double down on everything that's destroying us.

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  • Jessica Rosenkrantznervous_jessica@mastodon.social
    Oct 21, 2026, 2:31 PM

    @toxi I probably need to stop shipping to the EU but I've been delaying doing it to see what happens. We previously had to do this when the GPSR rules were enacted but for that we could hire one representative at least

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  • SomeAnoTooterSomeAnoTooter@mastodon.online
    Oct 22, 2026, 3:37 AM

    @toxi change.org petitions seem laughable & a waste of time. I hate them. Writing representatives that are either already against this shit or ignoring mails as they do not care or get too many also feels like a waste of time.
    Only thing is to really check for who you vote & there are campaigns that want to lengthen legislatures "so they are able to get shit done & not need campaigning all the time". No it's so they can sit comfortable longer in their nice position & get more money afterwards.

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  • Karsten Schmidttoxi@mastodon.thi.ng
    Oct 22, 2026, 7:01 AM

    @SomeAnoTooter I agree to some extent, but voting is a long-term strategy, not a tactic. We need pressure and support livelihoods of SMEs right now, not in a few years. So of the comms tools available to us, writing (or better calling) your MEPs (and even local/national MPs) is likely the most impactful way...

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  • Erik “Lacraia” Magnussonlacraia@mastodon.social
    Oct 21, 2026, 5:09 PM

    @toxi This has been on Swedish Radio. Their example was an one-person online shop selling handcrafted things. The owner immediately stopped all exports.

    This feels like an legislation that has good intentions, but it’s only the really big players that can handle it.

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