Customs authorities specify a charge per distinct item, regardless of value, additional to the €3 duty on parcels below €150. Platforms, sellers or carriers are due to pay it.
The European Union is due to introduce a €2 import handling fee on 1 November 2026. Euronews describes it as covering “all packages,” regardless of value. Irish Revenue and Swedish Customs give a more specific scope: online goods shipped from outside the EU to consumers, charged per distinct goods item rather than once per parcel.
The handling fee will come on top of the temporary €3 customs duty introduced on 1 July 2026, which applies to parcels below €150. Irish Revenue specifies that this duty is also charged per distinct item. The European Commission says the July change abolished the previous customs-duty exemption for parcels valued up to that threshold.
Euronews says platforms, sellers or carriers will pay the handling fee. Swedish Customs specifies that the party filing the customs declaration—the declarant—is legally liable. Payment goes to the customs authority in the member state where the goods are declared for entry into the EU market. The obligation begins when the declaration is accepted and remains even if the goods are not subsequently released.
Irish Revenue says sellers or delivery businesses may pass the charge to shoppers. If they do, payment may be collected at checkout or through the delivery company before the goods can be delivered.
No handling fee applies when goods are already in an EU member state when ordered, Irish Revenue says. A website’s apparent location does not establish where its goods will be shipped from.
An EU official quoted by Euronews distinguished the charges’ purposes: the duty is intended to put imports on an equal competitive footing, while the handling fee covers the customs-control costs associated with e-commerce.
The deposit facility, main refinancing and marginal lending rates remain at 2.50%, 2.65% and 2.90%. ECB President Christine Lagarde said policymakers debated a hike but unanimously held, citing stable underlying inflation, tighter long-term financing and uncertainty as reasons to await more data.
Euronews says member states will collect the handling fee and divide the receipts as follows.
| Recipient | Share |
|---|---|
| EU budget | 75% |
| Member states | 25% |
The European Commission says small-parcel arrivals fell by 60% between July and September 2026, while 5 million parcels still enter the EU market daily. In 2024, 91% of those shipments came from China.
Euronews links the measures to growing low-cost imports through online shopping platforms Temu, Shein and AliExpress, and describes Chinese shipments as fierce competition for European retailers. The Commission also says many imported products fail to meet EU rules and standards, creating safety and security concerns for customers.
The Commission schedules mandatory use of the EU Customs Data Hub, a shared online customs-data system, for e-commerce from 1 July 2028. It says normal customs duties will replace the temporary arrangement once the hub is fully operational.
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