The European Union is imposing a flat fee of 3 euros on small packages sent within the bloc, a measure that will come into force in July. This will directly affect millions of consumers and small businesses. This is Brussels taking yet another step in its efforts at increasing control over trade and the daily lives of its citizens.
The fee will apply to shipments whose value does not exceed a threshold set by each country, affecting both domestic and imported products. Of course, Brussels insists that the goal is to ensure “tax fairness,” whatever that means. The outcome of this effort is clear: every package will be registered, monitored, and taxed, expanding state oversight and the administrative burden on citizens and businesses. This means increasing cost for these items.
Implementing the fee not only increases operational costs, but also normalizes permanent surveillance, turning every purchase into an act overseen by the state apparatus. The Nazis, the KGB and the Gestapo would have loved to have had this kind of oversight.
This fee will just be used to expand a bloated bureaucracy. It will harm the consumers who will have to rethink their budgets in the face of rising prices. Consumers are being penalized with this fee. It also is penalizing small businesses whose abilities to conduct online business will be negatively affected.
The EU is continuing to move towards a more totalitarian state where liberties that we take for granted in this country are disappearing at an alarming rate. If the Democrats ever get back in power, we can expect such activities to take place here.