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How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

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Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#881

Post by zoobab »

If you are interested in the EU killing small companies and economic suicide:

https://ffii.org/unified-patent-court-is-100x-more-expensive...

This is an article from 2021, but in the meantime, after the complaints of small companies, countries made the matter even worse by *increasing* the court fees even more, citing the inflation over 10 years.

You see there is hope in this corrupt world, not to mention that the people who decide do it for themselves, states don't want to spend more so they send the bill to companies that have to litigate.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#882

Post by IshKebab »

ccozan wrote: post #872
rramon wrote: post #839

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you store your Amazon listed product on Amazon in their warehouse or send it out from your home or from a supplier?

yes stored in their warehouse. But the law says I am a producer becase my logo and my registered brand is on the package. The packaging issue is orthogonal to Amazon. they just apply the law.

As it should be! Amazon have little control over product packaging.

(But of course this article is right about the insane admin and cost requirements for small companies.)

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#883

Post by inigyou »

yardie wrote: post #29

One of the biggest problems that I have in the EU is that it's almost federated. EU will pass laws, countries will adopt those laws, but you end up with 20-24 different versions of those laws. With some countries being strict or lenient about the law that everyone agreed to. And a lot it is written from the perspective that large corporations are the only ones who do business throughout the EU. It's completely missed…

I think the idea is that you follow the law of the country you're in.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#884

Post by yason »

Recycling fees for and managing packaging ought to be delegate-able to a packaging company. I.e. could buy a pre-made, EU-stamped and PPWR pair-for box of size WHD for a slightly higher price, put your stuff in it and ship it. The box already includes the whatever recycling fees and bureaucracy charges when the box was purchased by you. If you manufacture something complicated that requires you to roll your own packaging then you're responsible for the recycling fees but you probably can already deal with it at that stage.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#885

Post by zigman1 »

ab5tract wrote: post #569
zigman1 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Competent at getting votes (and taking them away from competition) and incompetent at leading and being in power.

What is the alternative that you are proposing? When I read something like this all that comes across is a strident desire for totalitarianism.

The alternative to this is being also competent at leading.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#886

Post by brookst »

freehorse wrote: post #805
pembrook wrote: post #786

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m no fan of big tech, but, at some point the conspiratorial bending over backwards to blame big business instead of the government representatives creating the actual harm gets ridiculous. Again, I often sympathize with the left leaning side of things, but you have to admit our side has a massive blind spot in terms of blaming all the worlds ills on a secret cabal of business elites instead of blaming the mechanism…

When big companies have the resources to lobby and pass regulations (EU or country wide level) it is hard to separate these two, in particular when there are long-lasting policies that consistently disadvantage smaller entrepreneurs/small property owners disproportionally. I think it is fair to point criticism to government/eu, but it also fair to point who actually benefits (intentionally or even not) from these.

But it’s the incoherence of the EU support that’s so weird.

Apple ships USB-C phones (a year before required): look at the EU standing up to big tech and forcing consumer-friendly products.

Crazy policies cripple small business and domestic AI? Oh, it’s not the EU’s fault, it’s that evil big tech.

There’s a recurring theme where the EU can do no wrong, despite repeated negative outcomes that only make sense to read as well-meaning but misguided regulatory overzealousness.

There is no way Amazon is lobbying to complexity product distribution in the EU out of some kind of triple bank shot to suppress those €1m/year businesses. The potential downside is nowhere near worth the benefit. This is pure bureaucracy.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#887

Post by dvdkon »

inigyou wrote: post #875
dvdkon wrote: post #748

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm tired of being told I don't matter because I'm in a minority. You'd never dare imply a tax making gypsy folk singing unviable is fine because it's a "miniscule minority" of all music played, so why do it for electronics repair?

But a ban on making loud noises after midnight would also impact a gypsy who likes to folk sing after midnight and it would be pretty ludicrous to cite that as a reason not to do it.

The right thing to do is not to sweep him under a rug because "there's only a few such gypsies", but to look at what he's doing and say "yes, this is what we want to ban". Being a in minority is not a shield from consequences, but it shouldn't be a reason for dismissal either.

In the case of the 3-EUR-tariff, nobody has come out and said "we want to make small electronics production/repair untenable", so I'm optimistically assuming its effects are not intentional.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#888

Post by mosura »

stefs wrote: post #832
m000 wrote: post #747

I've been following the PPWR in news and social media. Everybody is lamenting about the micro-enterprises that see their business squashed, but mostly because they are involved in one. I do empathize with them and really want to see these small business surviving and thriving. But then, in the context of discussion, nobody asks what matters: Cui bono? To me, this looks like a direct handout to Amazon and similar (big…

this is addressed in "Solution #3: Allow marketplaces to represent and manage micro-enterprises collectively as if it were a single producer." so apparently, what you are describing is not what's actually happening.

Which is like creating the Apple App Store for physical products.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#889

Post by tsss »

teiferer wrote: post #370
labcomputer wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And a lot it is written from the perspective that large corporations are the only ones who do business throughout the EU. It's completely missed that small entrepreneurs may also want to take part. I'm not convinced that's an accident. I think politicians in Europe are just better than those in the US at hiding who they really work for. There are numerous examples of regulations in many European countries that crea…

It's a success of the upper class to pit the middle class against the lower class and the immigrants. As long as people on one "side" complain that there is too much foreign culture and they'll all be replaced and/raped and the other "side" sees the racists as their main enemy, the rich have an easy time.

Immigration is a separate problem.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#890

Post by [deleted] »

dreadnip wrote: post #824
m000 wrote: post #747

I've been following the PPWR in news and social media. Everybody is lamenting about the micro-enterprises that see their business squashed, but mostly because they are involved in one. I do empathize with them and really want to see these small business surviving and thriving. But then, in the context of discussion, nobody asks what matters: Cui bono? To me, this looks like a direct handout to Amazon and similar (big…

What stops a person from starting a packaging/shipping business, paying the fees to ship and handle waste in all 27 euro countries and then charging customers a couple of cents for this service?

[deleted]
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