No free shipping for online shops - Or: The EU is dismantling itself!

The EU is falling apart – goodbye to the idea of a borderless Europe!

The EU was once intended to unite Europe. The aim was to provide freedom for all people and businesses alike, enabling them to trade easily and without restriction.

That’s perfectly possible – if you’re a mega-corporation or you’re called Amazon, and you can afford to employ a team of bureaucrats and easily fork out a few thousand euros a year in fees for all sorts of things that, by any common sense, are mostly unnecessary.

Unfortunately, for us – as for thousands of other small businesses across the EU – neither of these options applies!
That is why we have to remove a large number of EU countries from our list of delivery destinations.

Here is a list. This is intended not only for interested customers, but also for ourselves and our staff, to help us stay up to date with the complicated EU-wide shipping regulations.
And it may help disappointed customers in Spain, Slovakia, Luxembourg and elsewhere to understand why, after 15 years, they can no longer order our products for home delivery.

We can no longer deliver to the following countries*:

In these countries, there are high charges for either packaging materials or registration fees, or both.

Bulgaria

A bureaucratically complex licensing process would be required, which we could not manage either in terms of staff or cost.

Denmark

In addition to licensing costs, there is a one-off registration fee for the DPA manufacturers’ register, which amounts to 1,000 DKK (approx. 134 €). As a foreign trader without a CVR number, costs for an authorised representative are incurred in addition to the licensing costs and registration fees. (approx. 1,500 DKK / 200 €)

In 2023, we sent exactly 7 parcels to Denmark – it’s not worth it!

Estonia

A bureaucratically complex licensing process is required – in recent years, we’ve only sent 1–2 parcels a year to Estonia.

Greece

A complex licensing process is required; there are also costs involved in appointing an authorised representative, amounting to approx. 450 euros per year.
Dear Greeks: Please don’t be surprised if you can’t order anything from small shops in the EU – this is why!

Spain

As a foreign trader, you’ll incur costs for an authorised representative in addition to the licence fees. These costs depend on the volume of parcels and amount to at least 400 EUR per year. The one-off cost of having the signatures certified is approximately 80 EUR.
We used to have a few customers in Spain – it’s a shame. Dear Spaniards … see the note regarding the Greeks …

France

A complex licensing process would be required. In addition, we would pay a flat fee of €80 per year for micro-distributors. Not much, but unfortunately our range has met with little interest from French buyers over the last 10 years – on average 0–1 parcel a year – and that’s not likely to change, as we’ve already withdrawn from the French market.

Croatia

Licensing required; there are also costs for an authorised representative … Goodbye Croatia …

Cyprus

As well as the necessary licensing, there’s a one-off registration fee of €50 plus VAT. We’ve sent three parcels to Cyprus in ten years – sorry, it’s out.

Latvia

A licence is required; in addition, distributors of packaging must pay the so-called Natural Resource Tax. We’d also have to pay the annual minimum amount of 84 euros. We had some good Latvian customers before these rules were introduced, but unfortunately it’s no longer worth it for us.

Luxembourg

A licence is required. Unfortunately, this involves a lot of red tape and is time-consuming. For 0–9 parcels to Luxembourg, depending on the year, it’s no longer worth it.

Hungary

Sorry, but the Hungarians are completely losing the plot. And I’m afraid I have to say this as the owner with a Hungarian business partner who is part of our company! Lizenzero states: “For all foreign companies not based in Hungary, the appointment of an authorised representative is mandatory.” In addition to the licence fees, there are therefore costs for an authorised representative, which range from €930 to €1,333 in the first year. Important: In Hungary, there is also a quarterly reporting fee of €450. So, in addition to the costs for the authorised representative, you should also expect costs of €1,800 per year for your volume declarations. “ I’m afraid I have to say to Mr Orban, a long-standing critic of the EU: this is the height of EU bureaucratic madness!
But perhaps that’s exactly what he wants. It’s very interesting to hear ‘insider’ views here, as someone with family ties to Hungary. Over there, the view is that it’s more a case of a policy of isolation from the ‘evil’ EU that’s leading to such unrealistic hurdles being put in place. So it’s protectionism by the back door, as that would of course otherwise be forbidden for an EU member state. I’ve no idea what they’re trying to protect; as far as I know, Hungary doesn’t have dietary supplements of a similar high quality to ours.
It goes without saying that our Hungarian customers – some of whom are even close friends and family members – will have to do without our parcels in future. Unless, that is, they order in bulk from us and are prepared to be patient. We drive to Hungary ourselves every two months!

Poland

Although a licence wouldn’t be necessary, registration in the state BDO register would incur a registration fee of up to 500 PLN/120 euros. Unfortunately, we’ve had hardly any orders from our neighbouring country over the last 15 years, which we very much regret, so they’re now being dropped.

Portugal

Information from Lizensero.eu: “The cost of appointing an authorised representative depends on the volume and can range from €350.00 to €1,500.00 per year.” “The minimum licence fee is €120 per year.” Sorry, Portuguese customers, this is no longer possible either.

Slovakia

A licence is required; the annual basic fee of €100 includes the costs for the authorised representative.
It’s a shame – we used to have staff in Slovakia too, but unfortunately not enough customers. So we’re dropping it from our delivery destinations.
For Slovakian customers with a bit of patience: we travel to Hungary five times a year and can personally deliver to any customer living in the Bratislava area!

Finland

Linzenzero.eu: “In addition to the licensing costs listed, there is a one-off registration fee and an annual customer fee: €1.60 per registered tonne of packaging material.” The minimum contract value is €265 per year.”
It’s a shame – we’ve had a number of satisfied customers in Finland over the last few years, but unfortunately not enough to justify such costs and bureaucracy.

Sweden

Linenzero.eu: “To fulfil your product responsibility and thus your legal obligation, you are required to licence your packaging with a recycling scheme in Sweden.”
What a shame – it looks like Pippi Longstocking will have to do without our children’s vitamins in future.

We can still supply the following EU countries without any problems – for now!

Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia.

And thanks to a helpful tip from a customer, as of May 2025, Monaco too !

We do

we do deliver to, but it’s a real shame that our neighbours, of all people, have fallen particularly prey to the EU’s bureaucratic madness.
Here is an extract of the rules that apply only to us. Larger shops are hit even harder! Estimated annual cost of authorisation: €300. Estimated annual licensing costs: €150 flat-rate fee for small quantities. One-off costs for certification (in Austria, the certification of contractual documents is required to comply with packaging licensing obligations): approx. 90 EUR
This means that the privilege of continuing to supply our long-standing Austrian customers costs us €450 per year plus a €90 ‘entry fee’.

As our neighbours are a very important customer group, we are, of course, sticking with Austria.

*The following website was, and remains, very helpful in compiling this list and in keeping us up to date with the ever-growing madness of EU bureaucracy:https://www.lizenzero.eu/dashboard/