How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

A Greek engineer designs a 25-euro open-source sensor board and sells ten units in the first year to four EU countries, each shipped in about 50 grams of packaging. But for that packaging, he has to register and report separately in each country, costing roughly 1,150 euros a year in administrative fees alone.

That means to make it worthwhile, he would need to sell thousands of units every year from day one. Such a burden makes it impossible for micro-businesses to even start.

1. Good intentions, bureaucratic nightmare

The EU's packaging regulation has a noble goal: make producers pay for recycling. But implementation is fragmented, with each country running its own system. Sellers must register separately in every state and appoint local representatives.

Big companies can absorb the cost, but small sellers are crushed. A maker selling ten products a year pays over a thousand euros in compliance costs for a few grams of packaging.

2. Innovation stifled, big platforms benefit

Many innovations come from small workshops: sell ten, then a hundred, then grow slowly. But now, makers are afraid to even try.

The result is that only big platforms like Amazon, Temu, or eBay can afford to operate. The innovation space is squeezed, and Europe is killing its own creative soil.

3. Three practical solutions

The author suggests: 1) an EU-wide de minimis threshold exempting low-volume sellers; 2) an EPR One Stop Shop, like the VAT OSS, where sellers register once for all countries; 3) allowing marketplaces to represent all their sellers collectively, as a single producer.

These ideas are not yet adopted, and the Commission's proposed moratorium only partially helps. The author urges everyone to sign the petition and pressure policymakers before thousands of micro-businesses—artists, craftspeople, food producers—are wiped out.