selling in the eu, handled

for independent designers and studios — what the eu's new packaging rules actually mean, and what changes when you sell through spazio. updated 12 august 2026.

what actually changed on 12 august

the eu packaging and packaging waste regulation (ppwr, regulation 2025/40) applies since 12 august 2026. it is worth being precise here, because two different roles are being mixed up in most of the panic:

if you manufacture packaging — or have it made under your own brand — the product rules are yours: conformity, technical documentation, design requirements. a studio that buys standard boxes is not a packaging manufacturer.

if you ship packaged work to customers in other eu countries, you are the "producer" in each destination country — the party responsible for extended producer responsibility (epr) there. that part is not new: national registers like germany's lucid have existed for years. what is new since 12 august is article 45: producers must now appoint an authorised representative for epr in every destination country where they are not established. one per country, no single window — and no exemption for small businesses.

that is the real reason many small studios are pausing eu sales. if you only sell inside your own country, very little changed for you this week.

what stays on the calendar

harmonised labelling arrives from 2028, restrictions on certain packaging formats and recycled-content targets from 2030. on softening: a pending commission proposal (com(2025) 982) would suspend the representative requirement for eu-based producers until 2035 — parliament is expected to vote in october. it has not been adopted, so article 45 currently applies as written; we would not plan a business around a pending vote, and representative contracts are best kept short.

what changes when you sell through spazio

spazio is a gallery that sells on consignment. for every sale through the gallery, spazio is the seller of record — which means destination-country packaging compliance is spazio's job, not yours: the epr registrations, the representatives, the reporting, the fees. nothing is deducted from your share for this. one gallery carries it once, for all of its designers — that is the arithmetic a single studio cannot match.

the rest of the model, in one breath: every piece stays yours until it sells, you receive 70% of the net price, no membership or listing fees, no exclusivity. your work keeps selling to eu collectors; the paperwork stops being your problem.

if you want to talk

write to nino@thespaz.io with a link to your work — or start directly with a few pieces via our upload form. we answer ourselves, and we answer quickly.

this page explains our model; it is not legal advice. for your own obligations outside spazio, the commission's guidance of june 2026 and your national register are the places to look.