Lille: The customs reform agreed by the Council and Parliament on 26 March 2026 will build a new EU Customs Authority in Lille and a single EU customs data hub, and it ends the duty-free treatment of cheap online parcels. Institutions describe the package as the most significant change since the creation of the EU Customs Union in 1968. The Commission tabled its proposals in May 2023, so the deal closed a legislative process of nearly three years.

The authority is a new decentralised agency. It will coordinate cooperation between national customs services, manage the data hub and coordinate EU-level risk assessment and control priorities, according to a King & Spalding summary. National authorities keep the job of applying the rules and carrying out domestic controls. The customs reform therefore pools data and risk analysis, not enforcement powers.

Under the customs reform, the data hub follows a phased timetable. It becomes operational for e-commerce goods on 1 July 2028, opens voluntarily to other traders in 2031 and turns into the single mandatory entry point for all EU customs formalities in 2034. Companies that move early will gain experience, while slower firms will face a hard deadline at the end of the decade.

Parcels bring the quickest changes. The customs reform removes the EUR 150 duty-free threshold for low-value items, and the same summary reports a flat EUR 3 customs duty on items below that value from 1 July 2026. A separate handling fee per parcel sent directly to EU consumers also applies. The summary says a Commission delegated act will set the amount, and it reports a deadline of 1 November 2026 for member states to begin collecting the fee. Neither source I reviewed confirms a figure, so businesses should check the delegated act.

Platforms and sellers shipping non-EU goods directly to consumers become the deemed importer. They must submit accurate customs data, pay or guarantee duties and fees, and follow EU product safety rules. They must also establish themselves in the Union or appoint an EU representative with trusted trader status. A Trust and Check regime would give compliant companies fewer physical checks and more flexible payment timing in return for transparency.

The customs reform is not yet law. Both institutions must still approve the text formally, and legal-linguistic revision can take several weeks. The sources give no plenary or Council vote dates, and full application would follow 12 months after publication in the Official Journal. Importers, marketplaces and logistics firms should watch for that publication, because it starts the clock on a rule change that will reshape every small parcel entering the Union.