Implementing rules on registering in and reporting to the register of producers

The new packaging rules force small businesses to reduce the reach of products within the EU. As a company with very specific products, it is very challenging for us to continue operating economically with sales in fewer countries.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

To the European Commission, I am writing to provide feedback on the proposed rules regarding national registers of producers under the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). I am a one-person business based in Portugal, and I was looking forward to launching my business across the European Union. However, as currently designed, the registration requirements will make this impossible.

I own a micro business based in Germany and I manufacture Eurorack modular synthesizers. I occasionally have 1-2, or even zero orders to certain countries in the EU. These new rules would require me to either pay insane amounts to a 3rd party company (up to 275 EUR per year per EACH country I want to be able to sell to) just to be able to sell to the rest of the EU.

Points I would like the EU Commission to reconsider: * Disproportionate burden on micro and small businesses: PPWR/EPR requirements can impose disproportionate administrative and financial burdens on individual creators and micro-businesses selling only small quantities. A business selling a handful of packaged products per year should not face obligations designed for large retailers.

I am writing to express my serious concern about the implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) from 12 August 2026. As a small business owner selling products across EU borders, I find the administrative and financial burden created by these new rules completely disproportionate. The European Union constantly promotes the Single Market and the principle of free movement of goods.

I am writing to you because I fear that the new packaging legislation within the EU will be the end not only of the EU single market for small businesses like mine, but maybe even the end for my business. I ship approximately 600 packages worldwide each year. Of these, about 40% go to other EU countries, with the remainder split between third countries and Germany.

Totally unrealistic and non-economic for small and sole proprietorships. We have stopped shipping to the EU and we need to find a way to register easily and easily with the previous packaging registration without legal advice and centrally a small company with 20 to 30 parcels across the EU.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I am against packaging waste and therefore I am very mindful of everything I use for packaging my ceramic pieces (and I need a lot of packaging since the pieces are fragile). Everything I use is being reused. I collect boxes and bubble wrap that otherwise would be thrown out from local shops and use them for my packaging. If I need to buy something, I use only paper and cardboard.

I am a mentally disabled person who is unable to work regularly, that's why I started to sell my art as a registered self-employed, so that I can make my own money without my family needing to support me. It had its ups and downs but overall it has been going well, I even paid for my own domain to host my sticker shop at. I put maximum of 300 GRAMS of paper and plastic packaging PER YEAR, into each country.

This new legislation has a negative and destructive impact on small artisanal producers who very often ship only a few packages to certain European countries throughout the year. It is unsustainable for us to pay 200 or 300 euros or more, as is the case in France, where it is required to appoint a local legal representative.

I fully support the European Union's objective of reducing packaging waste and improving recycling. As the owner of a small independent business based in the Netherlands, I believe we all have a responsibility to reduce our environmental impact. My concern is not with the goals of the PPWR, but with how it is being implemented for micro and small businesses.

I am an independent musician managing the merchandise store for the band Scherbentanz. While I fully support the EU's environmental goals, the current Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) creates impossible financial hurdles for micro-enterprises and independent artists.

Ladies and gentlemen, as the owner of a small family-run vineyard, I would like to express my concerns about the implementation and practical implications of the new EU Packaging Regulation (PPWR). In principle, I support the objective of making packaging greener, conserving resources and reducing waste. However, the practical implementation of the new requirements poses significant challenges for small businesses.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I had to disable shipments across Europe, focusing solely on extra-EU sales. The European Union was created to unite countries and facilitate movement and trade; however, if red tape requires us to comply with fragmented registrations, obligations and costs for each individual Member State, the very principle of the Union disappears.

Filed in Italian · English published by the European Commission

I am a small independent business owner and creator selling products to customers across Europe. Mandatory EPR registrations, fees and the additional bureaucracy required for cross-border sales are becoming disproportionate for micro-businesses.

I strongly support the objective of reducing packaging waste and improving sustainability across the EU. However, as the owner of a micro-business, I find the current rules unclear, complex and disproportionate for very small businesses. My business is a small stationery subscription based in France. I send approximately 60 lightweight envelopes per month, mainly within France.

I am a breadwinner. I do not have any staff. I have a shop on Etsy and send parcels around the world, including to the EU. I send only a few parcels per month per country. All the parcels together give me an income on which I depend. If I now have to hire a repressive force per EU country, it is NOT profitable for many countries to hire a representative. I must therefore exclude those countries.

Filed in Dutch · English published by the European Commission

I am a one-person artisan business selling small handmade products across the EU. I fully support environmental responsibility for packaging, but requiring micro-businesses to register, report and pay separately in every Member State is completely disproportionate when only tiny quantities of packaging are involved.

I would like to express my concern about the administrative burden that the current implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation places on small and medium-sized businesses engaged in cross-border trade within the EU. I fully support the EUs goals of reducing packaging waste, improving recycling and reuse, and promoting a circular economy.

Small businesses are already facing incredibly difficult trading conditions, and the new EU shipping requirements risk creating another significant barrier to selling to European customers. I have already seen multiple small businesses choose to stop shipping to the EU because they simply cannot justify the additional costs, administration and complexity involved.

I have had to disable shipping across Europe, focusing exclusively on non-EU sales. The European Union was created to unite countries and facilitate movement and trade; however, if bureaucracy forces us to comply with fragmented registrations, obligations, and costs for every single Member State, the very principle of the Union is undermined.

Filed in Italian · English published by the European Commission

I am an owner of a small company who ships around 1000 packages a month around EU countries. In our scale I think that having a mandatory authorized representative in each country, and paying for that a lot more than the actual waste fees, will just result in us closing the shipping for most of the EU countries.

As a European citizen and owner of a micro/small business in the EU, I am concerned that the PPWR and its EPR requirements place a disproportionate administrative and financial burden on small businesses. Different packaging registration and EPR requirements in individual Member States make selling across the EU unnecessarily complicated.

For me, as a small and relatively new e-shop with around 200 orders per year from across the EU, this regulation is practically devastating. I understand the purpose behind it, but please consider introducing free registration in each country, together with some reasonable threshold or exemption for small businesses. I simply cannot be expected to pay the same fees for one 20 kg box as a multinational corporation.

We have just launched the world’s first patented, climate-neutral and fully sustainable space fragrance company (www.carbonrox.com). We use carbon capture in the home, completely eliminate plastic and all components are home-compostable or fully recyclable. This initiative will stifle our business. We had hoped to make the most of the EU’s single market for our growth.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

The objectives of the PPWR are important: Reducing packaging waste, promoting reuse and recycling, and protecting the environment. However, the rules must be proportionate and take into account the reality of micro and small enterprises.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

As the owner of a small EU-based business producing handmade design objects, I strongly support the environmental objectives of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). However, the current Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements risk placing a disproportionate administrative burden on micro-businesses.

As a medium-sized manufacturing company in the metal processing sector, we fundamentally support the objectives of the EU Packaging Regulation (PPWR) to reduce packaging waste and strengthen the circular economy.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Hello, I am a 26 year old micro-entrepeneur, developing and making my own creative products. I just registered my business, and am about to launch my online store after months of preparing and investing in products and materials. I am devastated to find out about these developments that are starting from August 12th and onwards. This changes everything for me.

The objectives of the PPWR to reduce packaging waste, increase reuse and recycling and increase responsibility for packaging are fundamentally correct. However, practical implementation risks creating disproportionate bureaucratic and financial burdens, especially for micro and small enterprises.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

As a sole trader, I operate a small craftsmanship business in Germany and also sell my products to customers in other EU Member States. The different registration, reporting and EPR obligations create a very high administrative and financial burden for micro-enterprises, which, in the case of a few consignments per year, is disproportionate to the amount of packaging actually placed on the market.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Hello, I'm contacting you regarding the new PPWR policy that will apply from August 12. I have a small business where I sell art, including original oil paintings and prints. I only make a few sales and ship a small number of packages per year. This policy could make selling my work in Europe almost impossible for me, and Im worried it could do the same for millions of other small businesses and independent artists.

As a micro-enterprise owner producing small, handcrafted jewelry, I am writing to express deep concern regarding the proposed rules for national registers of producers under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). My business operates on a small scale, shipping lightweight items packaged in small, recyclable cardboard mailers.

This scheme should apply to large undertakings which purchase and operate packaging as a system and which have significant turnover. Stopping shipments to EU countries is a serious blow for SMEs, especially the very small ones, and many are already announcing it. This rule is contrary to the principles of the EU and the underlying integration of the Member States.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

If we understand the objective of waste management, it is regulatory by generally applying it, it closes the door for small businesses like mine to make Europe a profitable and interesting market. It leaves it up to large companies to transmit literature in Spanish to other countries, as small and infrequent shipments would be at a loss.

Filed in Spanish · English published by the European Commission

Although I agree we need to move towards being greener and sustainable everyday for the sake of our planet, this will completely kill the smaller businesses. The big multi million companies, which are the bigger issue, will still remain, but the small businesses that rely on import/export to stay afloat will suffer terribly. Please make an exception for the small businesses.

Hello, thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback. For small businesses and the self-employed, this new law is a death sentence. With my 3D printing service, I am limited to small quantities and small margins and cannot pay a high fee of sometimes several hundred euros per country, nor can I hire someone in the country if I sometimes have only a few customers per year in that country and the licence costs…

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡 𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 Dear President Ursula von der Leyen, Jessika Roswall and Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné , I fully support reducing packaging waste, recycling and Extended Producer Responsibility. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘂𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨.

Im an independent artist and small business owner from Poland. At this point, I sell most of my work abroad, within the EU. The registration fees for the various systems are already high and, for a small business like mine, often simply not financially viable. The new regulations will make it impossible for me to continue operating, and I may be forced to close my business.

As an e-commerce retailer, I fully support the PPWRs goal of reducing packaging waste. However, the current practical requirements heavily discriminate against small and medium-sized online retailers in cross-border trade and threaten our very survival. I urgently request the European Commission to implement the following adjustments for the e-commerce sector: 1.

I find it difficult to summarise in a nutshell what I think and feel about this rule. We are supposed to have created the European Union, as its name suggests, to be united and we are less and less so. While understanding and sharing the basis of its creation (I am the first to reuse and recycle it to the unimaginable), this legislation is totally abusive and destructive of any micro- or small enterprise and throws…

Filed in Spanish · English published by the European Commission

The EUs stated objective is to reduce bureaucracy and ease the burden on businesses. In practice, however, the opposite often seems to be happening: while procedures are simplified in one area, new obligations and administrative requirements are introduced elsewhere at the same time. I fundamentally support the goal of making packaging more sustainable.

For 12 years, I have designed and sold a unique product: jewelry inspired by scientific organisms and methods as gifts for scientists. When someone graduates with their PhD in science, friends and family come to my website to find a unique gift. The PPWR requires me to hire an authorized representative and register my business in every EU country.

I am the owner of a small independent UK business selling directly to customers, including a small but growing customer base within the EU. I want to make clear that we support the environmental aims behind the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. Packaging waste is a genuine issue, and businesses should take responsibility for the waste they introduce into a market.

Not workable in practice for smaller webshops based in the EU to find out what to do on a country-by-country basis to be in order and, in addition, pay the related cost per country. Relatively often also unreasonably expensive minimum threshold. Appointing Rep. for several countries is too much of a bridge.

Filed in Dutch · English published by the European Commission

I operate a small, one person mailorder company selling merchandise and records. The new EPR registration fees and cross-border bureaucracy make it impossible for me, and ALL small independent businesses to sell across EU borders. I demand an immediate moratorium on this legislation until a de minimis exemption or a simplified one stop system for micro-entrepreneurs has been implemented.

As a small business, I am very concerned about the additional administrative burden created by separate national packaging registration requirements. For a small company like mine, selling across several EU countries, complying with different national registrations, reporting requirements and fees is disproportionately complex and costly.

This legislation is only harmful to small businesses who make their bills off of selling to people within the EU, it hardly makes a dent in the big corporations that its meant to hit. This instead causes small businesses to have to cough up 1000s to try and sell to customers that have been purchasing from us for years.

I run a one-person handcrafted jewelry business in Berlin, Germany, selling directly to consumers (B2C) through my own online shop. I design and make the jewelry myself, handle my own photography, packaging, and customer service, and operate entirely without employees. Roughly half of my annual turnover comes from customers in other EU member states, alongside Germany.

Urgent Request for PPWR Postponement and Harmonized Micro-Business Exemptions. As a one-person micro-enterprise based in the EU producing handmade goods, I am writing to state that the current implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) threatens the immediate survival of my business and thousands of similar artisans.

It took me 13 years to establish myself as an author. Thirteen years of writing, working, fighting, and slowly building a name for myself. Thirteen years to reach the point where readers know my books beyond the borders of my own country. There are a handful of EU countries where readers have ordered my books directly from me because they wanted something special: a book signed personally by the author.

We will stop EU transit because it is uneconomical for us to appoint an authorised representative for each country. The EU is a bureaucratic monster which has set itself the task of favouring Chinese traders rather than relieving the burden on its own citizens. I don’t need an EU, and if I’m going to vote, then I don’t need the EU.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

You publicly champion independent creators while quietly regulating them out of existence. As an independent artist, the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has effectively forced me to block cross-border sales to EU customers. I want to be sustainable, but your regulatory framework completely ignores the economic reality of a micro-business and creates a massive administrative burden.

Hello, My name is Erica and I'm an artist. I am writing to express my disappointment and fears about your newest shipping regulations (EPR and PPWR). I imagine you don't care too much what a Canadian has to say about the EU policies, but let's be honest here -- art is meant to transcend boundaries like nationalism and borders. There is only one type of government that disagrees with that.

As a small business the so far implementation and lack of foresight with these regulations are hurting me immensely. I am a sole proprieter and even in the largest EU market I am in, I create less than 3kg of 'waste' per year. To be forced to register, do the upkeep, pay fees, and have to organize representatives for all the different countries is quite frankly, an insane request.

The rules of having to manage each country separately for small sellers will only ruin many micro online shops run by self-employed people. In my case, I have a shop in Etsy and I occasionally sell to different countries in Europe.

Filed in Spanish · English published by the European Commission

I am a micro-business broker in France. I send around 200 parcels to customers in France and other EU countries, in second-hand cardboard packaging, of newsprint paper that I collect. In at least 20 EU countries, I send less than 5 packages per year. It is totally disproportionate to require a company like mine to register and comply with the administrative requirements of each Member State.

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

I am an independent ceramic artist and micro-business based in Belgium. I may occasionally send a handmade ceramic object to a customer in another EU country, using a cardboard box and paper-based protective material. It is completely disproportionate to require a business of this scale to register separately and comply with administrative requirements in every Member State where a customer happens to live.

To the European Commission and Members of the European Parliament, I am writing as an independent e-commerce entrepreneur based in Portugal specializing in vintage and pre-owned goods. While I fully endorse the ambitions of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) to reduce waste, the current regulatory framework creates severe friction for micro-businesses.

I am Karlo Križetić, owner of Eligius, a very small independent business in Croatia. I design and manufacture products myself and would like continue to sell them to customers across the EU. Unfortunately, mandatory EPR registrations, fees and different national requirements make cross-border sales disproportionately complicated and expensive for micro-businesses like mine.

Hello, im a small business owner (creating art and selling it). with this new law for me and many people (friends of mine that also sell art online and live from it) its simply no longer possible to ship outside of germany (in our cases) anymore. please do not apply the same law for micro businesses as it is applied for big companys that make millions of euros. this new law literally kills all small businesses.

For us, small businesses, this can be truly catastrophic. I understand the need to regulate packaging and protect the environment. However, costs and a huge number of formalities are problematic and may prove disproportionate for small businesses.

Filed in Polish · English published by the European Commission

I am a small independent business owner, creator and customer in the EU and I am deeply concerned about the devastating impact the new EPR requirements are having on micro businesses. Mandatory registration fees, multiple national registrations and complicated cross border bureaucracy are making it financially and administratively impossible for many small independent businesses to sell across EU borders.

I am a French independent artist and micro-business owner selling my own art prints and original paintings directly to customers across the EU. I fully support the environmental objectives of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and I understand the principle that businesses should contribute to the recycling of the packaging they place on the market.

This law is a serious problem for my small bussines and it will hurt it very much. I am an artist selling handmade puppets for performers for the last 10 years . I can not afford to register in 27 different countries and pay thousands of euros . As Europe already has an One Stop Shop for VAT , i am sure it could do it also for the EPR.

EPR requirements are making cross-border sales almost impossible for solo, micro, and small businesses selling handmade and artisan products across the EU. A small business may ship only a few packages a month and place just a few dozen kilograms of packaging on the market each year.

For small companies, this shouldn't result in a huge administrative burden. Other options: - The amount of packaging should be reported via OSS like VAT - Only have to be reported to the local OPR - Costs are included in the packaging like with electronic waste (verwijderingsbijdrage) - A fixed yearly fee is levied for small companies to ship across the EU that allows them to ship X kilos Small companies should be…

I am a small trader without an employee. The scheme costs me 40 % of my annual turnover. As registration and the associated costs are not profitable in all EU countries, I have decided to prioritise the whole process. I have registered my company only in the five largest EU countries.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I am a French independent artist and micro-business owner selling my own art prints and original paintings directly to customers across the EU. I fully support the environmental objectives of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and I understand the principle that businesses should contribute to the recycling of the packaging they place on the market.

Small businesses and micro-enterprises must be exempted from the country-by-country registration requirement by means of a de minimis threshold. The current draft creates massive, self-inflicted structural disadvantages which completely contradict the basic idea of the European Union: Instead of strengthening the European single market, the EU is building nonsensical intra-European trade barriers.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I am writing as the owner of a very small plant nursery and producer in Croatia. Our business is a micro-enterprise with only two people, producing plants ourselves and selling them directly to customers, including a very small number of customers in other EU Member States.

I am a micro business based in the Netherlands. Ill have to shut down my business if I have to comply to the ERP registration fees for each EU country I sometimes ship to. It will cost me hunderds of euros per country, while I probably max ship 10 packages per country.

I run a small online stationery business in Ireland. I fully support the aim of reducing packaging waste, but the requirement to register and pay packaging compliance fees separately in every EU country I sell to is completely disproportionate for a microbusiness. Because of these costs and the administrative burden, I have had to stop offering delivery to customers in other EU countries.

How will a tiny one-person business manage to keep up with the cost that arises from this regulation? Are tiny businesses, that ship a few packages, the problem or the multinational giants that ship thousands or millions of packages? I am the owner of an one-person business and my packages must be as lightweight and small as possible otherwise the shipping cost increases dramatically.

My proposal for maximum simplification: The tax administrations of the Member States have at their disposal, through the OSS procedure, the sales made by a trader to the respective countries. It would be possible here to add a kind of small packaging levy in addition to turnover tax. This levy is passed on to a central body in each country. Benefit: Low burden for all parties involved.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I'm asking you kindly to reevaluate the obligations of small and micro businesses in this regulation. I've tried over 2 months before this law came into affect to understand all the rules and comply to them to just find out that every day new information surfaced and even the countries themselves are confused.

I strongly believe that the new EU packaging and waste management requirements place a disproportionate financial burden on small businesses. Requiring every company, regardless of its size, turnover or actual volume of waste generated, to pay significant fees simply to be able to make shipments is unreasonable.

These requirements are disproportionate and unworkable for small and micro businesses selling products to customers across the EU. I run a very small handmade business in Ukraine and sell lightweight, low-volume products directly to individual customers in different EU countries. The packaging used for each order is minimal: a small cardboard box and paper.

Please change the law to exclude small and micro businesses from the A.R. rule, as most of us cannot afford to be paying all those fees per country for simply shipping a couple of handmade items. In some countries, we only get one or two sales, so paying as much as the giants who get thousands of sales is quite frankly insane to think.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have built up a small e-commerce business over the past five years. My customers live in different countries of the European Union and appreciate my offer very much. Many of them have become established long-term clients. However, the implementation of the PPWR now presents me with a problem that can have an existential impact on my small business.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

As a small business, we believe that companies with very low volumes of packaging placed on the market should not be subject to the same registration fees and administrative requirements as large companies. We do not ship or place large quantities of packaging on the market, and the costs of registering and complying with separate requirements in every Member State would be disproportionate to the small amount of…

As an artist, struggling to break even and survive, every further imposition of bureaucracy and administration is catastrophic. There are so many vital things to be done around big corporations abusing the people and planet. Driving micro-businesses out of the market is not one of them.

​I am writing as a sole proprietor (micro-enterprise / ZZP'er) operating a small vintage and secondhand goods business in the Netherlands. While I fully support the European Union's environmental goals and the drive toward a circular economy, the practical implementation of cross-border Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) under the PPWR framework is forcing micro-businesses like mine to face an impossible choice…

These new rules on sending parcels within the EU are severely affecting small businesses, which may send to a country only once twice a year. It is completely unreasonable that we should have to hire a representative in each country. This kills small and creative entrepreneurs.

Filed in Swedish · English published by the European Commission

I am writing to you as an aspiring small business owner who is currently starting up a new business and online shop, regarding the upcoming Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). While I fully support the environmental goals of reducing waste, the current implementation of national producer registers without a uniform de minimis exemption (Bagatellgrenze) acts as an insurmountable barrier for my market…

I have always wanted to be in order for my individual business, so I opened an Italian VAT entry one year ago so that I can sell it regularly as e-commerce. I create adhesives, pins, prints and key rings and I am the only person behind this reality: managing bureaucracy to ship to 27 different states (in what is called the European Union) is particularly difficult for me, due to various factors.

Filed in Italian · English published by the European Commission

To whom it may concern, I own a small business in Germany hand sewing clothing that we send to customers around the world. Each order is packed with one piece of black tissue paper and then slid into a recycled cardboard shipping sleeve. We use no plastic in our packaging and already pay for the recycling of their very small amount of packaging each year in Germany through Ecopunkt.

First of all, a lot is unclear. The implementation is looking like a big chaotic mess and next week will be a dent in EU economy, trade and trust. There is no clear guideline. All countries have a different approach and micro-businesses dont have the capacity to deal with this. Not in manpower, not in funds.

As an EU citizen and the owner of a small European business, I would like to raise serious concerns about the practical impact of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the increasing national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements on micro-enterprises and small businesses operating across the EU.

I love that the EU is taking steps to make sure we can limit waste and recycle as much as possible in packaging. However, the new rules hit the smaller companies and artists, often without personel and already recycling and cutting waste as they can, extremely hard.

Hello EU staff, I can’t say much about this at all. We will once again implement all the new requirements. We will no longer earn money in the future. But you will probably not really be interested or think you are doing the right thing. Naja, we will sell our company as soon as possible (it doesn't have much value anymore) and then we will go to the USA.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I strongly oppose the current approach to national producer registration and, in particular, the practical consequences of requiring businesses to comply with separate national EPR systems when selling across the EU. I am a small, Germany-based one-person business selling artwork directly to consumers.

Unfortunately, due to the new directive and the enormous expense and costs it entails, we, as a small business, have to stop shipping to at least 6 EU countries. The complexity of the process leads to small businesses giving up at this point, thus reducing the diversity of offers in the EU and limiting the possibility of free trade.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Concerning the EPR packaging regulations coming into force 12.august 2026: Please think about an exemption rule for small businesses. I have been working self-employed as a solo artisan (historical millinery) for around 25 years, I have built a customer base all over Europe. I am aware of this beeing a nichè business but so far it has provided me with a sufficent income.

Hello, I’m an artist and I’m making it impossible for me to get stuck with this new law, and I’m also a reselling shop and a supplier to European designers. However, I’m no longer able to send them to France with this new law. I’m already doing this to reduce packaging in an ecological way by reusing second-hand packaging and avoiding over-packaging.

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

Subject: Emergency of survival for European microcreators in the face of the PPWR Regulation and the cumulative EPR taxes. I would like to alert you to the dramatic, unfair and disproportionate consequences of the new PPWR Regulation and the multiplication of extended Producer Liability Fees (EPR) on very small structures (often with less than 12 000 annual turnover).

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

While it is beneficial to hold businesses responsible, this will have a catastrophic impact on small independent businesses. The proposed fees will make it impossible for independent businesses to sell outside of their home country and therefore most likely no longer feasible to operate at all.

I support the environmental objectives of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and the aim of making producers responsible for the packaging they place on the EU market. However, I am concerned that the proposed implementation of national producer registers may create a disproportionate administrative and financial burden for micro-enterprises and very small cross-border sellers.

Please stop taking recycling fees for packages that consist of at least 95 percent cardboard, paper or other environmentally unproblematic materials. Companies have to pay thousands of EUR administration costs, (Small companies cannot afford that), just to pay you a few cents of actual recycling fees per package.

As a bespoke costume and wig maker in business for 16 years, I urge the EU to grant a packaging regulation exemption for creative micro-businesses (<35k revenue) using 100% reused materials. I ship just 30 boxes per year globally, using exclusively salvaged cardboard boxes from local grocery stores and incoming online orders.

As a micro-SME operating an e-commerce shop in Lithuania, I am deeply concerned by the current design of the packaging registers under Initiative 15352. The European Union was founded on the promise of a unified economic space with simplified, standardized cross-border trade.

The packaging and waste rules currently established by the EU result in smaller businesses not being able to sell products to certain or all other members of the EU anymore. Labour as well as costs for a country specific representative are exceeding the revenue. The regulations totally favour bigger businesses and are opposing the general idea of the EU of free trade.

This has entirely ended my ability to send to the EU. Id just managed to be able to resend after GPSR.. The fact that every country will now need registration and a fee on top of everything else means that it is entirely impossible for me, as a micro enterprise based in the UK, to trade with my closest countries.

We are very grateful that the EU is making everything more complicated and this is what the thousands of traders are no longer sending abroad. I wonder what works for Idioten. But we do not support this and we will stop a service that saves 10 million litres of drinking water every year. You are breaking the little haemer, we are sanctioning you. So easy. We do not support this. I am sorry for the environment.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I am a micro business circling around salfmade art, based in germany selling handmade prints and stuckerd directly to consumers in other EU Member States through an online marketplace. I fully support the objectives of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and the reduction of packaging waste.

We run an individual and small business and sell our artistic products worldwide through our online shop. For a year now, sales have been falling everywhere, not just with us, because our customers around the world are already burdened with inflation and rising taxes and levies!

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Why do we need the European Union if youre going to do this? You will kill small businesses, and small businesses are the backbone of a healthy, growing economy. Why does America impose import tariffs while the EU does nothing? And why is China the problem? How many Coca-Cola bottles are imported into the EU every year? How many weapons are produced in Europe? Electric cars with their NICE batteries. Green Future?

We are a two-person, self-taught goldsmithing atelier in the Netherlands. We make everything by hand and sell handmade jewellery across the EU. We support the principle behind these rules: producers should pay for the packaging they place on the market, and packaging waste must fall. We are not writing against that.

It seems that lawmakers have not fully considered the implications this will have on small businesses and its owners, as social media is being flooded with small business owners in despair and panic at the thought of losing their customers and income.

am a micro-enterprise based in Spain selling handmade products directly to consumers in other EU Member States through an online marketplace. I fully support the objectives of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and the reduction of packaging waste. However, I am concerned that the requirements for distance selling may create a disproportionate administrative and financial burden for very small businesses.

I am a sole trader in Finland and I have sold products made as part of my business through e-commerce. The packaging material I used has been recycled and as little as possible. The new law obliges me to limit e-commerce sales to Finland only, because as a small business I cannot afford to pre-pay compensation for packaging waste in all EU countries and to have country-specific representatives for my business.

Filed in Finnish · English published by the European Commission

I ask you to make exceptions for micro and small companies from these new laws. Great that you want to harmonize the systems in the EU but you are effectively killing all small businesses that want so expand outside their own countries. Today I can't afford the fee in my own country and it is impossible for me to be able to pay fees to every country I want to reach.

I am the owner of a small business based in the Czech Republic, and with a few exceptions, I ship my products to customers in most EU Member States. However, in many of these countries, I sell only a few units per year.

Dear EC, I come to you as many other small business owners to protest against the outrageous packaging policies. You cannot put big corps in the same category as small businesses that sometimes rely on a single worker - the owner.

I fully support the goal of the PPWR to reduce packaging waste and to make businesses more responsible for the packaging they place on the market. However, the current implementation creates a disproportionate burden for micro-businesses and sole traders engaged in cross-border e-commerce. I am a self-employed artist running a very small business in Austria.

As a small business earning already less than minimum wage from the sales generated and from my translation business that has been practically destroyed by AI, I would like to express how much my family will suffer from this new regulation. Like most micro-businesses here in Ireland, where everything is so prohibitively expensive, we cannot afford paying more.

I am writing as the owner of Made by Maar, a very small Dutch creative business selling stationery such as postcards, stickers and bookmarks. I fully support reducing packaging waste and the principle of producer responsibility. However, the current EPR system creates a completely disproportionate burden for microbusinesses like mine.

Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I would like to stress that I expressly welcome the objectives of the new EU Packaging Regulation (PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40). Reducing packaging waste, improving recyclability and creating a single European framework are important and right concerns that I fully support.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Hello! As a creator of a micro non-profit organisation this new law affects me in negative ways a lot. Requerement to have a legal representative in many counrties adds an unreasonable amount of additional expences that my company cannot manage. I dont get many orders from other EU countries, but if I have to ship something, I will have to pay an enormous amount of money, for 1 parcel.

I support the objective of reducing packaging waste and making companies responsible for their packaging. However, the new EU rules in their current form place a disproportionate burden on micro-enterprises and make access to the European single market more difficult. The problem is not environmental responsibility. Small online shops can and should also contribute to recycling costs.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

The law on packaging and shipments is absurd. The very principle of Europe is the movement of goods and people across countries. Having to pay to send craft products to an EU country goes against the very reason why it was created. Taxing small businesses and artists on their waste emissions is just as ridiculous when we see giants like Shein or Temu continuing to lightly pollute the EU (and the world).

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

I strongly support the EUs goals of reducing packaging waste and improving recycling. However, the implementation of PPWR and EPR must be proportionate to the size and environmental impact of a business. A micro-business may send only a handful of packages per year to a particular Member State.

Your definition of a micro businesses doesnt go far enough. I have less than 10k turnover per year. The face that each country is different in terms of threshold and the fact there isnt a threshold for uniquely small businesses is shocking. Also the necessity of a representative is various countries within the 27EU is unmanageable for businesses like mine and millions of others.

​I am writing as a small business owner in the EU to share how the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) rules are affecting us in reality. ​While I completely agree that we need to protect the environment and cut down on waste, the current system is completely unsustainable for micro and small businesses.

The decision has just been taken away from me, my shop is closed from today. It’s worth offering shipping options in the circumstances, so I could just give money away. This means that a small but not inconsiderable part of my income is lost. This rule restricts so many small businesses.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

You simply cannot apply the same rules to businesses of completely different scales. Small businesses, which are an important indicator of the health of an economy, have already been struggling for years with excessive taxes and the consequences of rising electricity and gas prices.

Feedback on PPWR implementation: Administrative burden and prohibitive costs threatening EU micro-businesses and handcrafters As an EU-based sole proprietor operating a small-scale, handmade retail business, I am writing to express severe concern regarding the practical implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements.

As an owner of small designer ceramic brand that sells through Instagram and Pinterest, this regulations changes my business dramatically. It is basically making to run my online store impossible. How would I manage to pay all the fees in each country? If I choose the way to work only with B2B partners, how would I promote my product to people online, who can not buy it from me directly? It doesn't have any sense.

I have worked hard for my small business for over five years, with many altitudes and depths, and at present I have only reached depths. Is there an ever-increasing number of stones on your way to stay afloat as a small, self-employed business?

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I am the owner of a micro-business established in the EU. We design and manufacture physical products in Europe and sell primarily B2B, with a small number of direct online sales to consumers across the EU. I strongly support the environmental objective of the PPWR.

Hello, I have learned about the new Packaging Directive, which will take full effect on August 12. I am micro organization with me as the only owner and employee, and I sell packaged goods online, so this directive applies to me as well. Since I sell these goods to many European countries, I need to register with the relevant authorities in each of these countries, which will issue me an EPR number.

The fees to be applied to every business defeat in order to be able to ship to countries within the EU challenge the very essence of the single market and disproportionately affect microbusinesses who greatly benefit from the ability to reach a large audience seamlessly within the Union.

The ERP and PPWR regulations are going to destroy small businesses. We do not have the means of a corporation, the legal team, the time to understand these regulations and make the changes accordingly. Im a micro-enterprise, but the threshold of 2 millions in sales is far from what I actually make. In a year, so far, Ive made around 1000 in sales.

I am writing to share how the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) packaging obligations under the PPWR will affect my business, and to ask the Commission to reconsider the level of burden placed on micro and small enterprises now that the broader suspension proposed for this category has been dropped by the Council. Oh So Vintage is a one-person antique and vintage resale business, registered in Belgium.

I operate a small family winery on the Moselle and sell some of our wines directly to end customers in Germany and other EU Member States. I find the planned or required national registration and reporting requirements for cross-border direct sales particularly problematic. For example, a small vineyard can send only a few parcels per year to a specific EU country.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Hi, my name is Anna Rogowska and I am a micro business owner in Poland, selling handmade macrame pieces online. I strongly support responsible packaging and recycling, but the current EPR system places a completely disproportionate burden on businesses of my size. I sell only a small number of items to most individual EU countries each year.

Hello, this PPWR law has a terrible impact on small businesses and creators. JAI a micro company where jai lopportunit denotes my creations abroad, very often places orders from Belgium and Switzerland, and unfortunately I should close orders to these countries because of all the burdens that this would cause.

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

I set up a tiny jewellery business that currently processes under 50 orders a year a year and a half ago. I have now had to suspend orders to the EU from Ireland because I cannot afford a representative or fees for what could be none or very few orders internationally. I am waiting to see what Ireland comes up with on August 12th to see if my business will survive at all.

I am a small 1person business, or rather, an independent freelance artist and musician. I sell my own shirt designs, cds, vinyl etc. my biggest clientel is in the EU. I barely get by with paying my bills as an artist as it was.

I am an independent artist. I regularly ship my art prints within Europe. They are an essential part of my small business, which I run completely on my own. It appears these new rules would make it impossible for me to have a viable business. The cost of having representatives and complying to all the rules would be completely excessive and unaffordable for me.

I am a small business owner, sending under 100 packages of handmade goods a year to the EU. Although this is an insignificant amount, the new bill will have a huge impact on my livelihood. I ask for micro and small businesses to be exempt from the AR obligations. I ask for the harmonisation of registration requirement across the EU or exemption of very small businesses from registration.

I am a sole trader from Scotland and this has entirely killed my ability to sell anything to the EU. I simply do not have the money nor the bandwidth to deal with 27 individual sets of rules and mixed costs. I am one person on a very thin profit margin so losing all sales to the EU is a huge blow, but continuing is just impossible!

Im a small business owner who sells across EU. You are embarrasingly out of touch. I dont want my union run like a corporation like Trumps US, but I also dont want it run by witless bureacrats. Either make it into a single registry or exclude small businesses. Ive registered in DE and FR since long before, but now 25 more countries and I have to pay several hundred euros for a representative in each?

I am a Spanish artisan that always tried to defend green policies, but this new packaging laws are absolute nonsense when applied to micro-companies and freelance artists, artisans and sellers. The amount of paperwork and extra costs are causing projects like mine to stop shipping to most parts of the Union.

This new law will kill small family businesses and will make large companies even richer. You are making local handmade items and art unavailable to EU customers. Chinese goods will take over. As a weekend woodworker I was happy being able to sell my crafts all over the Europe via Etsy marketplace.

The idea of a Single Market is that European companies should be able to operate across borders without facing unnecessary administrative obstacles. A system that requires separate producer registrations in multiple Member States moves in the opposite direction. For smaller businesses in particular, this can quickly become disproportionate.

- Disorganised: If the EU is serious about recycling, repurposing, etc., why is this program not streamlined like the OSS? - Waste of time: Our customers are dispersed all over the EU. How are we supposed to know each and every requirement of every country (counting language barriers) if we are not given the proper links and rules up front?

I am a very small independent artist and sole trader based in Germany. I sell my own artwork and prints directly to individual customers, often in very small quantities. For businesses like mine, the current and proposed packaging compliance requirements for cross-border sales within the EU are extremely difficult to manage.

Im a small volume seller from Germany. This directive completely ignores small and medium businesses. Having no threshold for small businesses nor alternatively a centralised European entity for taking care of package licensing is just killing off small businesses to favour large businesses. For example: To ship to Austria, the smallest packaging licence fee is for 1,5 tonnes of material.

To Whom It May Concern, this new regulation is shocking to me and many other SMEs considering the additional burden it puts on them, especially due to there being no way for this to be organised across all EU states at the same time. This means that the administrative burden is incredibly high, causing many SMEs to not even want to ship to the EU anymore.

As a micro company sending only a few parcels in the EU per year and already respecting the use of only recyclable packaging, this will greatly affect my turnover. I would therefore like to ask you for less drastic measures for all small businesses, which do not have the capacity to pay a benchmark in each country for only a few items. Thank you.

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

These measures will make sure that I cant sell my goods across European countries as a European business owner, because I cant afford the fees on my own. Ive got a small business and this will make expanding my company impossible. Please reconsider this for small businesses.

I'm a small creative business person working in Holland and have been selling all over the world for 42 years but on a small scale. Maybe maximum of 200 packets per year. Recently things got a lot tougher because of US import duties. Now its going to be totally impossible to sell to other European countries. How can a small business organize and finance local representatives in every country?!!

Hello, the new European PPWR law on packaging seems to me to be very unequal, particularly towards micro companies and independent artists. As an often individual entity with very small profits, it is extremely prohibitive to oblige them to comply with legal obligations designed for large companies as they obviously do not have the same means.

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

I operate a very small German online retail business ‘FatLavaVasenVintage’ and have so far supplied consumers in other EU Member States as well as in countries outside the EU, in addition to Germany. I expressly support the environmental objectives of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

As a one person business, I am extremely concerned about these regulations because, in their current form, they make selling across the EU impossible for many small creators. Every country has its own thresholds, registration process and pricing. We are talking about several hundred euros just to register in one country, even if we only ever send one or two small orders there.

Although I do understand wanting to minimize waste and packaging in the EU, this new legislation is not sustainable for small / micro business owners. I hardly make profit as is and if I want to grow my business, it is becoming very hard with these new rules. I already try to minimize my use of plastic and use very little packaging. I really hope there will be a threshold for the company size.

Dear European Commission members, I support the EUs objective of reducing packaging waste and making producers responsible for their environmental impact. However, I am concerned that the proposed national registration requirements could have a disproportionate impact on micro-businesses and independent creators. I am a one-person artist business creating art and selling it online.

This law ensures that small businesses no longer have a chance. Especially if you start with a company, you don’t have the financial means to spend so much money for every single country, for a year. There is a direct negative impact, in the four-digit range. And this would directly ensure that the tax office directs a favourite.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Ladies and gentlemen, we traders, craftsmen and small family businesses from the online sector are making an urgent appeal to you. For over 15 years, companies like ours have been ensuring that customers in Germany and Europe are reliably supplied with specialist goods, whether in motorcycle, forestry, garden or municipal technology. We generate honest sales, secure jobs and pay our taxes without legal action.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

As a one person micro business handmaking products (that is very far removed from the 2M and <10 employees definition) the EPR licensing scheme and the linked PPWR Authorized Representative makes it impossible for us to AFFORD to sell within the EU Single Market. There needs to be a centralized organization within the EU that allows us to register and pay (fair and proportionate to our turnaround).

I fully understand and welcome measures to contain an excessive parcel flood (especially from Far Eastern regions) or to price disposal accordingly. A certain fee for the packaging used, as previously calculated and paid for under the Packaging Ordinance, is understandable to us and also administratively feasible with proportionate effort.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Dear Sir/Madam, For small businesses, the Regulation is almost synonymous with exclusion from free trade within the European Union. The resulting costs and processing wall are unaffordable for small businesses. It has the effect of a quasi-betting or trading ban. Large companies will be more vexatious about it. Commercial sellers from third countries also do not seem to be affected by this Regulation.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I am the owner of a Norwegian micro-enterprise producing small quantities of niche products sold directly to consumers internationally. I support the principle that businesses should contribute to the actual cost of managing the packaging waste they place on the market.

I am the owner of a small handmade greeting card business in County Cork, Ireland, selling through Amazon and my own website. I want to share my direct experience with national producer registers to illustrate why the current system creates a disproportionate burden on very small producers. My business places under 200kg of packaging on the market annually, envelopes and protective sleeves for greeting cards.

I'm a small business owner, I'm just a single person trying to make a living, and these rules will entirely cripple my ability to ship to the EU at all. I absolutely understand the reasoning behind the rules, and for large enterprises with entire legal teams and millions of euros in revenue they can comply easily with little impact on their business, but I cannot.

As a Small/Micro business owner, these new regulations are putting all of us in a risky situation where we have to stop shipping within the EU until more is cleared up. This means for a lot of us that we lose 50% or more of our customers due to these new laws.

We strongly oppose the proposed packaging EPR requirements that would force small European businesses to appoint representatives and pay separate fees in every EU Member State where they sell. These requirements disproportionately burden small European businesses and punish small producers while favouring large companies, which have the resources to absorb such costs and administrative burdens.

I am an artist from the Netherlands creating original art, and the fact that I would have to register and pay in all 27 countries makes me stop sending my art to other EU countries. Looking at what other small businesses are deciding, pretty soon only big companies will be sending their products to the EU, small businesses won't.

Dear Sir / Madame ​I am writing as a small business owner to express serious concerns regarding the practical and financial impact of the current Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and packaging regulations.

When I first read the new PPWR, I had hoped that the new rules would bring improvements for small businesses like me. I am very much in favour of reducing and better regulating the packaging waste that the industry generates, because we all live on this planet, but the consequences of this new law are now hitting small businesses so harder and harder to send our goods abroad to the EU.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I fully agree that we have to reduce our packaging and resort to eco friendly packaging. But the way it is now makes it very hard small businesses to ship a singular package to another EU member state. Harmonising the EPR administration is a good first step. But forcing the smaller businesses to have authorised representatives in each country is going to be the death of small businesses.

Its incredibly offensive that the same body approving shipments of weaponry that is being used for ecocide (among other things) is going after micro businesses under the guise of protecting the environment. Truly insidious.

Dear Sir or Madam, As a sole trader and the sole maker behind a small, handmade fashion label, I would like to submit feedback on the planned regulation of national producer registers under the PPWR (Regulation (EU) 2025/40). I make every piece myself, individually tailored for dancers Tribal Cholis for oriental dance, belly dance and tribal fusion.

The PPWR and EPR rules are prohibitive for micro businesses like mine that ship for each of the EU countries in an irregular and small basis, but still need those sales in order to survive. The financial and administrative costs of compliance are too high, and these businesses shouldn't be treated the same way as large corporations that are, themselves, the main responsible ones for most waste!

Hello I am the sole manager of a micro-business in France which is my family's sole income. I sell antique cloth and clothing, so already my business is extremely sustainable, and I only ever ship in cardboard boxed and never use excessive packaging. I am concerned that this bill will impose unfair and very heavy costs on small businesses like mine.

In addition to the enormous time required as a sole trader, the new rules also entail a number of additional costs. I cannot test packaging in laboratories to follow the necessary guidelines as soon as my packaging gets branding from me. I do not have the means to comply with all the provisions as a producer in these cases. I’m branding and don’t produce the packaging at all.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

This proposal will severely cripple micro and small businesses, while doing very little to control waste from big companies and polluters. As a small artist, it is already a struggle to compete with the shipping and product prices of big companies and mass-produced goods. A micro business that sends less than 20 packages each month can not justify paying extra fees, while a big company will not be hindered at all.

Dear European Union Committee, I run a small business based in the UK and was workinging towards becoming GPSR compliant, but with the new PPWR regulations, it is simply impossible for me to afford the fees per country to ship my products into the EU, even though my packaging is fully recyclable with no plastic and compliant.

Sorry, however, is absolutely untenable for small businesses! I’m lucky enough to win EUR 200-300 a year! And what you thought about goes beyond my profit! This is not only for me! Many small businesses are in the process of closing their webshops or stop shipping outside their country. Is that really the sense that she is pursuing? Destroying small self-employed people?

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Hi! Although the idea behind the regulation makes sense and I support the attempt to better regulate packaging waste, unfortunately I do not think that the idea is complete. While it will not be a major problem for large traders (Amazon and co.), it will be a major obstacle for small traders and sole proprietors to continue shipping within the EU.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

While I am highly in support of reducing unnecessary packaging, this new regulation is absurd. I send 1-4 packages a month and all of them are international. My combined total of annual packaging material sent to all destinations is, generously, 10kg. Under these proposed rules, it will simply not be worth my while to continue selling to EU customers.

I'm an artisan painter with a sole proprietorship in Italy. For us small artisans, it's becoming impossible and too expensive to comply with this new law. The packages aren't that numerous, and the cost is disproportionate. It seems like it was created for large companies and can't be suitable for everyone. You're forcing us to close because the costs would be too high.

Dear European Commission, I am writing to submit feedback on the proposed PPWR and EPR regulations, with particular concern for their impact on small and micro businesses across the EU. I would like to highlight the following points for consideration: 1. Exemptions for small and micro businesses The current A.R rule places a disproportionate burden on micro businesses.

Like many other micro business owners these laws will heavily impact my business and my ability to send packages to customers around Europe. As micro business owners we understand that ecological materials are important, we understand that climate change affects us all and recycling costs money.

In my opinion, this law is the death penalty for many small businesses, which cannot afford to have one authorised representative per EU Member State at around 300 and therefore have to stop shipping to the EU. From an economic point of view, this cannot make sense, especially after/in a time of crisis, when many are starting anew, trying out things or, in addition to the main job, wanting or having to provide…

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

The new rules that force EVERY business to register as producer of waste in every country in EU separately is a death blow to micro, small and medium business. No one who has small business poses resources (time and money) to comply with these rules. Often the amount of goods sold would not cover the fees that some countries require to pay, not to mention having representation.

As the owner of a very small handmade business in the Netherlands, I am very concerned about the impact of the PPWR requirements on microbusinesses selling to customers across the EU. I fully support the goal of reducing packaging waste. I already minimise packaging by using appropriately sized boxes and only the protective materials necessary to ship my handmade products safely.

- please excempt small businesses from having an AR, because its a disproportionate measure towards us. We cannot justify the costs. - Please harmonise the registration or exempt us from registration, because its a disproportionate burden on small businesses. We cannot afford to hire someone to do it for us, so we would have to do it ourselves - this goes against the movement of goods.

That law seems to me to be quite complex to understand and set up as a quartite auto-entrepreneur and therefore does not have a dedicated service to occupy her. The requirements are very different in the different EU countries: — different fees for each country ranging from simple to quadruple – whether or not there is a need for a country with exorbitant costs for barely profitable micro enterprises – a platform…

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

The current version of the regulation is completely ill-considered and only leads to the destruction of the internal market. The (extreme!) majority of the EU’s registered companies are small and medium-sized enterprises, followed by self-employed artists. None of these businesses can afford to pay thousands of euros per year just to be able to send 10 parcels per year to some countries.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I am responding as the owner and sole maker behind Journey Through Jewellery, a one-person independent jewellery business in the UK. I strongly oppose regulations that place completely disproportionate administrative and financial burdens on microbusinesses simply for wanting to sell a small number of products to EU customers. Journey Through Jewellery is not a corporation.

Practical check not achieved: Disproportionate fixed costs stop small businesses and the internal market ​As the owner of a small online shop, I fully support the objectives of environmental protection. However, the current implementation of the EPR requirements is simply no longer financially and organisationally viable for small businesses.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I run a small bookbinding workshop in Germany (Kleinunternehmen, founded in 2025). I sell handmade books and stationery directly to end consumers, mostly within Germany, with occasional orders (roughly one or two per month) to other EU member states. Under Article 45 PPWR, from 12 August 2026 I would need to appoint an authorised representative in every EU member state I ship to, regardless of order volume.

These rules will make cross-border trade impossible for micro-businesses. As a small independent creator, having to use 27 different EPR systems, registrations, and reporting requirements (on top of other national flat fees) is completely disproportionate. Large companies can maybe take this financial and administrative burden but micro-businesses cannot.

This will kill a LOT of small businesses (1-2 persons) since we dont have the resources and capital to have a representative in every country. I am all for circularity and recycling, Im a slow Fashion designer based in Stockholm Sweden and make all of my clothes and accessories using recycled materials so I think we should all recycled the packaging but this law is sending small businesses down the drain.

Ladies and gentlemen, as a smaller online trader, I am writing to you with urgent concerns. The current design of the packaging rules and the national producer registers (EPR) is completely damaging to small businesses and destroys intra-European trade.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

The new regulations massively harm small business owners and, in turn, the exchange of ideas, culture and unique products which the EU claims to value. The admin work and money needed to apply for licensing in every EU country are massive compared to the financial resources small businesses have available and countless owners are facing dips in sales which, although small compared to The Global Economy , make a big…

Small and micro businesses globally are urging you to adjust the new AR regulations, as the expectation to register in 27 different EU-states is an unrealistic bureaucratic and financial burden that will force independent businesses to leave the EU market.

As a small, independent web shop (House of Bones) sending to the whole EU, we consider the current PPWR/EPR requirements to be totally disproportionate to our size. The problem lies in the stack: for each EU country in which we do not have an establishment, we not only need to register separately (with LUCID, Verpact, Citeo, etc.), but in most cases also appoint a local authorised representative, a mandatory, paid…

Filed in Dutch · English published by the European Commission

This scheme is equivalent to the complete destruction of every small entrepreneur in Europe. And from that perspective, I provide feedback. I understand that, thanks to Chinese webshops, we need to do something in Europe, and I also understand that we need to do something about reducing waste in general, but this arrangement is not working. As a webshop, we send vinyl sheets to our customers in Europe.

Filed in Dutch · English published by the European Commission

I agree with recycling and the use of certain materials for shipping packages, but I strongly disagree with the registration system. As a freelancer who ships only a minimal number of packages per year, I find this regulation deeply troubling.

I operate a very small mail-order business in Germany. We are not a large retailer, we do not have a legal department, a compliance team or dedicated staff dealing with regulatory requirements. We ship fewer than 1,000 parcels per year.

The implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) under the PPWR is a disaster and actively destroying micro and small enterprises across Europe for nothing. While cutting packaging waste is important, requiring a small business to appoint a costly Authorized Representative (AR) and register separately in 27 Member States is absurd.

There is an urgent need for you to adapt this new regulation for micro-enterprises and craftsmen! We are millions that you don't think about and that will be overwhelmed by new procedures that are too costly financially and administratively. No to these rules as they stand: micro-enterprises should be exempt! Personally, as a craftsman, jsend my creations to private individuals mainly in France.

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

It's not feasible for micro businesses to pay the fees to register in each country, or handle the paperwork/admin. As a micro business of one person, it's not feasible. I'm based in the UK. 10% of my income is from sales to the EU. I already pay an annual fee for an authorised representative to comply with GPSR, and additional fees would not make it worthwhile to sell to the EU.

This law in its current form has created an unsolvable problem for micro-businesses and small businesses across the entire European Union. Because many small entrepreneurs rely on their income for survival this will cause people to seek out ways to evade the law or turn to other means of income, turning to potentially illicit means to solve the problem.

Feedback on the implementing act on national registers of producers (PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40) Dear Commission, I write as a concerned EU citizen and product designer, trained at the Design Academy Eindhoven. I am about to launch an online shop for my own handmade design objects. My company is also building a European alternative to Squarespace.

I strongly support the objectives of reducing packaging waste, increasing recycling and making producers financially responsible for the packaging they place on the market. However, I am deeply concerned about the administrative and financial burden that the current system places on micro-businesses, independent artists, craftspeople and other very small businesses selling across EU borders.

I am writing as a small business owner to express serious concerns regarding the new obligations introduced by the draft Implementing Regulation related to producer registration, annual reporting, and extended producer responsibility for packaging.

I would like to express my great dissatisfaction with the increasing bureaucratic requirements imposed by the PPWR. In principle, I support the objective of reducing packaging waste and improving recycling. However, the way in which those objectives are implemented seems to me to be wholly disproportionate and unrealistic. Small and medium-sized online traders in particular face a huge additional burden.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I support the environmental goals behind these rules. But the proposed national producer registers are a bureaucratic and disproportionate way of achieving them. For large corporations, the additional registration, reporting and compliance costs may be manageable. For small businesses, they can easily make selling to EU customers uneconomical. Many have already announced that they will simply stop selling to the EU.

I can completely understand the need for better rules and regulations regarding packaging and waste and am in full support of that, however, with these rules will have a negative effect on the small businesses, such as myself.

The current approach to the implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) creates a disproportionate administrative and financial burden for micro-businesses and very small producers. In my case, this is essentially a small hobby business. I generate approximately 1 kg of paper packaging per year.

I run a micro-enterprise in Germany. The PPWR is not feasible for me as a micro-enterprise and restricts me to selling only within Germany. It is disproportionate to organise an authorised representative for each country for even small quantities of orders in other EU countries; the costs are not to be borne (I am talking here about gains per year of a few thousand euros).

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

DEAR Ladies and Gentlemen, We never received such a nonsense law coming from EU. Builds more bureaucracy, strengthens bigger companies and holds smaller companies from selling in the EU. And then we wonder why we get more and more Asian crap on the market and get destroyed. Small businesses will stop selling from 12.08. as it doesnt make any sense anymore. Thanks for nothing!

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

It is always good to avoid packaging waste and give incentives to make packaging reusable. However, the problem this new regulation and old, already existing ones in that regard, is trying to solve, comes from big companies with thousands of packages. It is only right that they should pay for it. However, this new regulation is breaking the neck of every small business.

The original idea when the EU was founded was to simplify things like trade. The mere fact that almost every EU country deals with this packaging matter in completely different ways and that registration plus, in some cases immense, fees is therefore necessary in each individual country has nothing to do with simplification, but the exact opposite is the case.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

As an individual company, which is composed and managed by a single person and which must bear all the resulting costs, without any meaningful protection or right in our country; this law is yet another low blow to the detriment of small entrepreneurs who are trying to survive an environment that is already too hostile from an economic point of view.

Filed in Italian · English published by the European Commission

I support fair recycling contributions, but the current packaging EPR system is disproportionate for small cross-border businesses. A micro-enterprise may sell only a few hundred euros into one EU country while facing hundreds of euros in registration, reporting and compliance costs. The rational result is to stop selling there.

We support the European Unions objectives of reducing packaging waste, conserving resources and establishing a sustainable circular economy. Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation PPWR) pursues important environmental objectives that are also supported by small businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs.

I am a micro-entrepreneur in France and I sell vintage clothes, especially to customers in different countries of the European Union. I have just become aware of the new PPWR regulation, not through an official communication, but through other micro-entrepreneurs via TikTok.

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

I consider the objectives of the PPWR to be, in principle, good. It is important to reduce packaging waste, improve recyclability and ensure that packaging entering the EU market meets common environmental requirements. However, I am very concerned about the administrative and financial burden that Producer Responsibility can impose on small and newly internationalised online shops.

Filed in Finnish · English published by the European Commission

To the European Commission / Members of the European Parliament, I am a small business owner operating in the European Union. I fully support environmental sustainability, waste reduction, and the transition toward a circular economy.

The new Packaging Regulation (PPWR) aims to make packaging more sustainable and protect the environment. This objective has my full support. What I cannot support, however, is the way in which the related obligations are transferred to small businesses. For me as a small company, the PPWR means above all: even more bureaucracy, even more documentation requirements, even more time and extra costs!

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

To the European Commission, I am writing to formally raise concerns regarding the upcoming Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), entering into force on 12 August 2026, and specifically its registration and reporting requirements for producers. 1. Disproportionate burden on SMEs This new measure is yet another example of why the EU is losing the economic race and remains stagnant.

I support the EUs goal of reducing packaging waste and developing a circular economy. However, the proposed requirements for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) may create a disproportionately large administrative and financial burden for micro-enterprises and sole traders who sell small volumes of goods to other EU countries.

I am a small art business in the UK selling on Etsy if they were to continue these new laws will now mean that my entire business will be at jeopardy as many of my customers are located in Europe. Due to my size and income I cant financially afford to be compliant.

Think about micro-enterprises. This reform is completely disproportionate for the self-employed/micro-enterprises. Most of us do not even win 1000 or 200 per month of online sales. These reforms would simply push us all to stop our activities. It is very important to put an income threshold, for example, or something else that would adapt the reform to the income of each enterprise.

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

Dear Sirs, The new law for packaging regulation will badly affect micro businesses and artist around Europe. As a self- employed wallpaper designer and artist this puts huge limitations to my ability to sell my physical products across EU countries - this means also my ability to expand my sales and income. Micro businesses will never be able to afford all this administrative work and additional costs.

These new regulations are hurting small businesses, although I assume the intention was completely different. If de minimis rules aren't introduced for creators and artists, we'll continue to be flooded with goods from China. For small brands, being part of the EU and the free market is often a dead end. Often (like mine), these are sole proprietorships whose annual revenue from member states doesn't exceed 20,000.

For small businesses, the requirements of the PPWR with local representatives mean an end to international trade, as the costs (administrative and costs) are not related to turnover. The same applies to WEEE, where the requirements are comparable and therefore only registration in the home country is affordable for small enterprises. In that case, however, international trade is prohibited.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

As a micro-business owner and independent artist, I find the current EPR requirements, particularly the obligation to appoint an Authorised Representative (AR) in multiple EU countries, financially and administratively impossible to sustain. My business is extremely small. I may send only a handful of parcels per year to any individual EU country.

I make handmade clothing and sell on Etsy. There is only myself and I make approx 20 k a year, with potentially 2 K coming from the EU. I can not afford a rep in each country. Also the amount of packaging (less than 500g) I am actually producing is never an option on any reporting site. (Lucid/reclay). So what do I do?

As a small creator with a micro business operating from Portugal to the EU only, I am asking the European Comission to consider exempting people like me, especially individual entrepeneurs from having to appoint an authorised representative in every member state, as it is a disporpotionate measure towards small business, as we cannot justify raising our prices to cover this expense.

The new Packaging Regulation is only good for big companies, we are losing sales to small companies because it is not worth sending small quantities of parcels abroad in the EU. We will send in 2026: 2 parcels to Finland, 3 parcels to Sweden, 4 parcels to Ireland, 2 parcels to Italy, 2 parcels to Spain and so on and so on. We now have an authorised representative for Austria, where we send around 50 packages a year.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

As a micro businesses in Spain that has been operational just a few months, the implementation of the PPWR regulation in it's current form means we have to shut down within the EU entirely as it is financially and operationally completely unviable.

I welcome the objective of reducing packaging waste and creating uniform rules within the EU. At the same time, the requirements for the registration and reporting of packaging should be more differentiated between large companies and micro/small enterprises.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

This responsibility should be on packaging companies! They can easily ensure conformity and mark packaging as appropriate. Putting this burden onto a small business in the UK or EU is ridiculous! Where is the guidance or support?? What about your people of the EU?! Where do they order from now? China only or massive corporate businesses!

I run a small online shop selling plants. I am a micro-seller in the sense of the Regulation: a very small one man business, with a limited number of parcels going abroad each year. Roughly half of my customers live in other EU member states. From 12 August 2026, any trader shipping to another EU country must appoint an authorised representative in each destination country.

As a business owner I find the new regulations to be catastrophic for all small businesses that have an EU clientele. These are my three main concerns: 1) Please exempt us from having an AR because it is a disproportionate burden towards small businesses and we cannot justify those costs.

I would like to start by saying that I think it is a great idea to reduce packaging waste and encourage companies to use more environmentally friendly packaging. However, the design of the law as it stands now is a death stumbling block for micro and small entrepreneurs whose business depends on being able to send consignments within the EU. First, the bureaucratic burden is completely unreasonable.

Filed in Swedish · English published by the European Commission

As the owner of my own micro business shipping out 300-400 boxes per year, I can safely say this ruling would almost be enough to make me stop selling. I make a monthly profit far below minimum wage in my country, I simply cannot afford to hire someone in every EU country I ship to. This would likely cost me almost as much as I make in a year. Please, make an exception for small and micro businesses.

That is completely the wrong approach. We should not be making it even harder for small retailers to ship abroad. Instead, we should focus on the major players such as Temu to ensure that they do not flood our EU countries with huge quantities of cheap goods.

I am a small entrepreneur with a low four-digit annual sales turnover. I send postcards, stickers and art prints, mostly within the EU. With the new rules, I have now stopped shipping to other countries outside Germany – I do not have the time and turnover to pay the costs to register for all countries in order to comply with the packaging rules.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

I am in the process of creating a small business here in The Netherlands and planned to have an Etsy shop that would sell my products across Europe and, eventually, North America. Unfortunately, as a nascent company, I cannot afford to register my business in every EU country and running an Etsy shop that only sells to Dutch residents severely limits my business potential.

I am the co-owner of a two-person artist-run business established in Poland. We specialise in hand-painting collectible character figurines and sell our work online to customers across the EU. I fully support Extended Producer Responsibility and believe businesses should pay for the recycling of the packaging they place on the market.

The proposed system of separate national producer registers risks turning environmental compliance into a significant administrative obstacle for European SMEs. Companies selling across the Single Market should not be required to navigate multiple registrations, reporting systems and national procedures for essentially the same obligation.

They kill all small companies! We are also stopping our EU shipping, which we, as a small company for our shop www.wildlifelove.de, have just set up with great effort – even though we are the owner of an internet agency. You do not know how much effort and money you are burning through your ideological requirements, which may only work in theory.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

To be very clear: I will have to shutter my 1-person-business as a consequence of these new regulations. Neither the administrative burden nor the cost nor the complexities are feasible for micro-enterprises who spend most of their time producing what they are selling. It is just not possible.