Laws and regulations

German Minister for Economic Affairs and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck is working on an ecommerce action plan. With this plan, the government aims to create a level playing field between European online retailers and Asian platforms like Shein and Temu.

The majority of Dutch online stores that sell products through dropshipping do not comply with legal regulations for online selling. Their websites lack contact details or information about returning orders, for example.

The Turkish government is implementing drastic tax changes to reduce online consumer orders from foreign online stores. Import duties are set to rise significantly, while the exemption threshold will be lowered. Additionally, an extra tax will be introduced for certain product categories.

The European Parliament has made some progress in its proposal to simplify VAT rules for ecommerce imports. It wants to remove the threshold of 150 euros for import duties. Negotiations are still ongoing, but it has now been decided that the proposed changes will come into effect by March 2028.

Temu and Shein have ten days left to provide detailed information on various aspects of their services to European shoppers. The European Commission has requested this after complaints from several consumer organizations.

In an open letter, Ecommerce Europe and many of its national association members are calling for a level playing field for all ecommerce players active in the European market. They explicitly advocate for better enforcement of existing regulations.

Online spending in Austria has grown by 5 percent in one year, reaching 10.6 billion euros. More than half of the expenditures are made in foreign webshops. "Dramatic”, says the Austrian Handelsverband.

Axel Springer will cease operations of the comparison site Ladenzeile and its international equivalents named Shopalike by the end of this month. Reduced visibility on Google likely played a significant role in this decision.

British retailers and brands are not benefiting from the growing cross-border ecommerce spending on the other side of the Channel. Especially providers of clothing and footwear have seen their sales in continental Europe drastically decrease after Brexit.

Germany’s Ministry of Finance has expressed support for the abolition of the current customs exemption that benefits Asian marketplaces. AliExpress, Shein, Temu, and other platforms currently enjoy a tax exemption on import packages valued up to 150 euros.

Ecommerce giant Amazon has received a fine of 10 million euros for unfair trade practices from Italian antitrust authority AGCM. The fine applies to two of the Group’s subsidiaries: Amazon Services Europe and Amazon EU.

The European Parliament has agreed on new rules to reduce, reuse, and recycle packaging. In the future, only up to half of the packaging used by ecommerce companies within the European Union may be empty.

The federal German government intends to amend data protection law. The legislative proposal includes tightening creditworthiness checks, which could have a negative impact on Klarna and other payment service providers. They fear they may no longer be able to conduct automatic credit checks.

Temu does not recognize itself in the criticism from German consumer organizations. They have accused the platform full of Chinese bargains of unfair trading practices. According to Temu, the company is unfairly portrayed in a bad light.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that Amazon must establish a publicly accessible advertising repository. The obligation stems from European platform rules outlined in the Digital Services Act (DSA). Amazon has stated that it is disappointed by the ruling.