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Verzoekschrift gericht aan: Committee on Petitions (Petitionsausschuß)
We demand an exemption, a consolidated tariff category, or a flat-fee cap for private (B2C) imports of electronic, mechanical, and general prototyping components into the European Union. The current regulation chhttps://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/news/guidance-and-legal-text-temporary-flat-fee-low-value-imports-which-will-apply-until-1-july-2028-2026-06-08_enarging €3 per individual HS-code category is unintentionally destroying STEM education, the broader maker community (including 3D printing and robotics), and early-stage hardware innovation in Europe.
Reden
Since July 1, 2026, the EU has introduced a flat €3 fee per product category (defined by the 6-digit HS code) on B2C imports. While this was designed to stop the flood of cheap fast-fashion and plastic goods, it accidentally penalizes the entire European hardware, robotics, and maker ecosystem.
To understand the absurdity of this law, imagine buying a €15 Lego car from abroad. Under this new regulation, customs now says: "We charge a €3 fee for the red bricks, €3 for the blue bricks, €3 for the tires, and €3 for the axles." You suddenly pay €12 in processing fees for a €15 toy. This is exactly what is happening to prototyping components, from microcontrollers to ball bearings.
Building a simple automated mechanism (like a smart blind actuator or a small robot) requires a mix of highly specialized electronic and mechanical parts that are often completely unavailable from B2C distributors within the EU. We are forced to buy from international specialized distributors. A standard order for one simple prototype now triggers a catastrophic chain of fees based on HS codes.
For a bag of mixed parts worth maybe €15, a student or hobbyist is now charged €24 in flat customs fees alone. Together with VAT, a €15 educational project now costs over €40. This is a 200%+ tax on innovation.
The Impact on Europe
- Killing STEM Education: Students, apprentices, and hobbyists can no longer afford to build, learn, and prototype across disciplines like electronics, mechanics, and robotics.
- Stopping Innovation: Hardware startups begin in home labs. Cross-disciplinary prototyping has now become financially ruinous for private individuals in the EU.
- No local Alternatives: We cannot "buy local" because the vast inventories of highly specialized prototyping components simply do not exist in the EU B2C market. We are being penalized for something we cannot avoid.
We urge the EU to introduce an amendment to this regulation to save European hardware innovation.
Hartelijk dank voor jullie steun, Michael Deutschl, Bärnbach
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Gegevens met betrekking tot de petitie
Petitie gestart:
16-07-2026
Collectie eindigt:
15-01-2027
Regio:
Europese Unie
Categorie:
Belastingen
Waarom mensen ondertekenen
Flat rate on import is not fair and hurts projects relying on multiple electronic parts. The overly complex classification system for electronic parts is specially detrimental to the hardware ecosystem, imposing an added cost that can reach 300% or even more. A good middleground would be to have a single duty charge for all electronic parts, regardless of type (semiconductors, capacitors, resistors, inductors, sensors, and actuators/motors, etc)
Because the EU has esentially cancelled all hobbyists projects and potential future innovations since every item shipped from Aliexpress, alibaba etc costs 3e+tax (about 3.75e-3.8e) which is absurd.
This means that if i buy say 5 items which all cost under a euro say 0.7e or 0.4e for small pcbs i actually pay closer to 20euro which is insane since i wouldve paid like 3e+shipping before this tax.
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Aanhangers per land
| Land | aantal | minimumaantal (?) |
|---|---|---|
| Österreich | 30 | 0,21% |
| Deutschland | 21 | 0,03% |
| Belgium | 13 | 0,08% |
| Italia | 11 | 0,02% |
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I use affordable electronic and mechanical components for DIY projects, prototyping, learning and repairs. Many of these parts cost only €1-5 and are either difficult to find in the EU or are simply the same imported components resold locally at a much higher price.
The €3 charge per customs category can easily cost more than the components themselves when a project requires several different types of parts. This disproportionately hurts makers, students, hobbyists, repairers and small hardware developers rather than large importers.
I support fair competition and reasonable customs rules, but this measure was designed in a way that unintentionally makes experimentation, repair and hardware innovation in Europe more expensive. I would like to see an exemption, reasonable cap, or another solution for low-value components used for prototyping and repair