Earlier quoted context omitted.
How long should we have to wait to hear objections to a rule before we can implement it?
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Vouched even though you could have reworded this much more civilly it’s a legitimate point
How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
731–740 of 1001 posts
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#732Earlier quoted context omitted.
DHL charges 1 eur for recycling, which it pockets since the envelope or box with thr product went to the consumer... who throws it away to the segregated garbage bin - for which every consumer also pays.
> for which every consumer also pays. Idk, at least in Germany paper and (plastic) recycling is free. I only have to pay for organic trash and trash to be burned.
In Spain we pay the "tasa de gestión de residuos" (residue management tax) to our city, for all recycling in general. doesn't matter if it's paper, plastics/packagings, organics (many cities now collect those separat from non-organic) and other residues. It also includes the "punto limpio", a place to take larger electronics, batteries, car fluids and other stuff you can't just throw to the bin. Old medicine is collected at pharmacies though, it's a separate thing to avoid animals or people looking from the trash from getting medication, that could be dangerous.
How is recycling free but you've got to pay for organics? Don't you just pay a tax (or pay it indirectly through income tax or VAT)? And you've got the whole returning the plastic bottles on the supermarket thing too, right?
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#733There is way too much regularization in Europe. I get it, we want to be clean, nice and modern. But everything has a cost, there needs to be some balance.
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#734Earlier quoted context omitted.
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The stupid rules were imposed by member countries, and not by the EU. There are several countries, like Italy, Hungary who were not imposed that stupid rules, because EU didn't force anybody to have this level of stupidity in these rules. There is a reason why the article mentions only Germany, Austria, et al, they are the idiots, and not everybody or the EU... Also, nobody forced these countries to have incompatible…
The EU is the product of the decisions of its members and structure of the coalition. Outsiders have little reason to distinguish the nuance when the discussion has to do with the EU market as a whole.
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#735Earlier quoted context omitted.
> for which every consumer also pays. Idk, at least in Germany paper and (plastic) recycling is free. I only have to pay for organic trash and trash to be burned.
That's correct. In Germany we pay "indirectly" via the end price. Meaning whoever has to pay the afforementioned EPR fee is free to add their cost to the price of the product.
But to be fair, at least paper disposal is truly free because paper recycling generally turns a profit for the municipalities.
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#736Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don’t wait for objections to an obviously dumb rule at all. Save us all the trouble and don’t implement it?
Who gets the veto over the democratic process? You?
I love democracy but it seems like you’re implying that everyone gets a veto or nobody. That’s obviously untenable.
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#737Earlier quoted context omitted.
Simply not true. The helpful diagram you refer to does not consider the case where company A manufactures the packaging, company B buys the packaging, and then does a B2C delivery to another member state. In that case company B is the producer, even if B is a "micro-enterprise". > the discussion here seems to have a lot of people who are in a big rush to demonize their perceived political opponents on ideological gro…
Under definitions (page 9) there's a big section > 6) Who is the ‘manufacturer’ of branded packaging? NEW! And it starts off this blurb: > According to the PPWR (Article 3(1), point (12)), if a packaging does not bear a name or trademark, the manufacturer will be the natural or legal person who manufactures packaging or packaged products. Seems pretty obvious to me the generic bubble envelope example from the blogpos…
Do you realize who Kafkaesque the discussion already has become?
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#738Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is enforceable and the financial punishment is severe. There's no US’s LLC equivalent in EU, you basically only have C-Corp/Inc. equivalents (much more expensive to start and operate, both because of accounting and corporation income tax), so most small sellers in EU end up fully liable with their own wealth for the ridiculous up to 200,000€ penalties. Chinese sellers don’t care, sure, but if you live in EU you do…
> much more expensive to start and operate, both because of accounting and corporation income tax Assumption. It depends on the country. I know in the UK I opened my limited company for £20 and there is no requirement to have an accountant prepare accounts at my size (and it's simple enough to do yourself). Ok UK is no longer EU, but as I understand Ireland LTD, Latvia SIA, Estonia OU and Poland sp. z.o.o. are simila…
Sadly you can't run them as a non-resident afaik. The member state in which you resides will come after you for taxes if you operate a foreign company.
In France the micro-entrepreneur status makes you partially liable, and running a SASU/EURL does require ~200€/m of accounting.
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#739It is possible to ignore laws if it's too much bother to comply with them... it's hard to imagine the authorities will come after someone for mailing out 10 anti-static bags.
That's a very American mindset. I've worked across both the US and EU at a variety of companies with customers, partners, etc and it's a clear pattern: - Americans are usually willing to skirt the rules and figure it out later. This comes with risk but is ideal when you're early stage, low stakes, and you couldn't follow the rules anyway. - Europeans absolutely want to do it by the book and will be shocked if you sug…
> Europeans absolutely want to do it by the book and will be shocked if you suggest otherwise.
My experience working for small European companies is the opposite. Mostly companies run by kids of old money who truly believe rules apply to them
Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
#740Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do regular tv’s transmit?
The old CRTs do, yes. Not so much with LCDs. But unfortunately, I may be wrong and bought into an urban legend/bit of propoganda: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_in_the_Un...
UK is really really good at propaganda so I don't blame you