Why I’m No Longer Shipping to the EU
Unfortunately, I’ve had to make the decision to stop shipping orders to the EU.
This isn’t because I don’t want to sell my artwork to people in Europe. I have customers and supporters across the EU, and I’ve happily posted prints and artwork there for years. But the latest Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements have made selling into the EU increasingly complicated, expensive and, for a small independent artist like me, simply not practical.
The PPWR is designed to reduce packaging waste and make packaging more sustainable. In principle, I have absolutely no problem with that. I use packaging to protect artwork, I want to minimise waste, and I’m perfectly happy to use recyclable materials wherever possible.
The problem is what happens when you are a tiny business selling a handful of paintings and prints internationally.
The rules around packaging, producer responsibility, registration, reporting and different national requirements create a level of bureaucracy that is completely disproportionate to the amount of packaging and waste generated by a small artist. The EU rules apply from 12 August 2026, and UK businesses selling packaged goods into the EU need to take them into account.
And this is where it becomes ridiculous.
I’m an artist. I paint pictures. I sell prints and original artwork.
I am not a multinational packaging manufacturer producing millions of units of plastic packaging every year.
Yet I’m expected to navigate a growing mountain of regulations and compliance requirements just to put a print in a cardboard tube or a painting in protective packaging and send it to someone in Europe.
At some point, the cost of complying with these regulations, both financially and in terms of time and administration simply outweighs the possibility of making the sale.
So rather than risk getting something wrong, pay for complicated compliance systems or spend hours trying to understand regulations designed around much larger businesses, I’ve had to remove EU countries from my shipping options.
While small independent businesses are being buried under paperwork, fees and regulations, European consumers can quite happily order mountains of cheap stuff from enormous international marketplaces.
You can buy something from Temu, Amazon or one of the other giant online marketplaces, have it shipped halfway around the world, wrapped in whatever packaging it arrives in, and delivered to your door.
But apparently the small artist selling a £30 print is the problem that needs another layer of bureaucracy.
That’s the bit I struggle with.
I’m not against environmental regulation. I’m against regulation that becomes so complicated and expensive that it discourages small independent businesses from trading internationally while large corporations have entire departments, lawyers and compliance teams to deal with it.
The result is that someone in France, Germany, Spain or Italy who wants to buy one of my prints can no longer simply order it from my website.
And that’s a real shame.
These rules are supposed to create a better, more sustainable system. But if the practical result is that small artists, makers and independent businesses simply stop selling to European customers, while the biggest global marketplaces continue operating at enormous scale, then I think it is reasonable to ask whether the system is actually achieving what it is supposed to achieve.
So, for now, I’m sorry, but I can no longer offer shipping to the EU.
This isn’t a decision I’ve made lightly, and it isn’t because I don’t value my European customers. Quite the opposite.
I hope the rules eventually become simpler and more proportionate for small businesses, because I would genuinely love to start shipping my artwork to Europe again.
Until then, if you’re in the UK,USA, Canada, Non EU or Australia you can still order directly from my website as normal.
And to all my European customers who have supported my work over the years, thank you. I’m genuinely sorry I can no longer make it as easy for you to buy my work.
