This is really sad to read :(
So many entrepreneurs (who can because software businesses) are leaving EU
How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
601–610 of 1001 posts
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#602These sorts of regulations are killing not just companies in Europe but across most of the world. Unless you are a medium to large-sized company, it is very difficult to remain fully compliant with the regulations in most nations now - across fields, from packaging, to agriculture, to food, aviation..
As a small-time Canadian ebay seller trying to pivot to not-US... it's not a good time.
What I find funny is that all of my packaging is re-used. I guess it's still "bad" that I'm sending non-EU packaging to EU, but at a global level, I'm way ahead. Re-using >>> re-cycling.
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#603Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find this hard to discuss among others as it often results in heated discussions, but in my experience, Europeans have a completely different understanding of what is considered "rude" so much that I struggle to work with a vast majority of them. That's not to say that there aren't extremely nice people all other Europe... there are. But I'm still caught off guard when hearing them say some things nonchalantly that…
> But I'm still caught off guard when hearing them say some things nonchalantly that would get them fired in the US. I'm intruiged, can you give an example?
"you should lose weight"
Whenever I call out things like this to European friends they just think I am being an overly-sensitive American. But saying that to a colleague can absolutely get you fired in the US.
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#604This is a direct result of national politics. EU member states want all the benefits of integration without giving anything up, especially things that they consider aspects of national sovereignty. * * * I'll give you an example. I'm from Romania. In Romania in 1990 there were no private enterprises, so everything was state owned. There was a HUGE demand for commerce/retail, so small local businesses popped up. They…
Don't know about Carrefour and Auchan in Germany, but there are plenty of Aldis and Lidls in France, at least in the Paris region.
I checked some quick numbers and Lidl is around 10% in the French market, while Aldi is around 4%. They've both surged since Covid. In 2010 together they held about 3% of the French market.
So yes, there are more recent developments for supermarkets, but repeat the exercise for banks or other fields. How often do French people get services from German companies, for example online retail? Do they go to otto.fr, kaufland.fr, etc?
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#605Earlier quoted context omitted.
uhh no, if you're the one making an argument the burden is on you to provide actual sources and not say "trust me bro, look it up." You're trying to argue how school children argue, aim a little higher if you want to convince people that know how to read.
You are insulting me which is an odd way to have a discussion on this forum, and no I disagree with you. Stop being lazy and do your own research. To help you along I gave some more info above. Thanks for the bump.
Imagine thinking asking someone for sources as "insulting."
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#606EU also recently introduced a 3 euro fee on all packages from China. Maybe well intentioned but it puts a huge markup, when a thinker wants to buy a very specific 0.05 euro spring from AliExpress or something along those lines.
nonono, it's 3 Euro per tariff classification.
a 0.05 EUR spring, a 0.05 EUR bolt and a 0.05 EUR LED in the same package = 9 EUR fee
https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/ensuring-fa...
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#607Earlier quoted context omitted.
It isn't a loophole - this was done on purpose. De minimis and the previous packaging regulations were used as a tariff bypass by Chinese platforms like PDD and SHEIN, which led to their crackdown over the past 24 months [0][1] [0] - https://www.ft.com/content/067ba5bb-4da3-42fc-a57b-9dd27a8f9... [1] - https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/eu-probes-shein-over-...
Let me spell out the loophole: Just don't use packaging. Redesign your product so it comes in a sturdy container that makes it integral part of the product itself and completely side steps the obligations here.
I'm going to get a lot of packages packed in a cat box, aren't I?
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#608The problem here is that government regulations don't work. Only punishment works and punishment should be based on number of infringements.
So if some poorly discarded packaging is found in a forest by a government official, they can document it. At the end of the year, the companies involved in the making of the improperly discarded products would be fined some amount proportional to the number of recorded infringements and magnitude of infringements (e.g. total weight) to cover clean up costs pertaining to that particular source of waste.
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#609[deleted]
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#610This is actively preventing me from sending packages to other countries as a maker. No matter how small the risk is, I don't want to risk a 5000 euro fine for sending a small amount of packages to other EU countries.
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