The impact on the Greek trade is great from the uncontrolled expansion of the Asian platforms, as its president underlined EU (Hellenic Confederation of Trade and Entrepreneurship) Stavros Kafounis at a press conference on “Asian platforms E -commerce: How to prevent the “Fall” of the European Market – Hour of Responsibility for the EU “, which is currently being carried out by the ERC in collaboration with Eurocommerce, in the building of the European Parliament’s office in Athens.
The press conference presented the up -to -date ERC study data on the multifaceted impact of unequal competition on European and Greek commercial businesses and the new interventions and comprehensive proposals of the ERC and Eurocommerce in view of Ecofin on Friday (20.6.2025). As Mr Kafounis said, the estimated turnover in Greece, based on active users and average annual purchases per user, is estimated at € 529 million. This means that Asian platforms occupy 17.63% of the Greek e -commerce market.
“That is, about 20% of the market has already shifted outside the Greek trade tissue,” he noted.
In practice, he continued, one in five euros in e -commerce is leaving for China. If this trend continues, the effects will be shocking.
Losses for the Greek economy are multilevel:
- Customs duties of approximately 50m euros are lost annually.
- Insurance contributions, VAT income and other taxes are also lost.
- Overall, the loss of public revenue from taxation and contributions is estimated at € 200 million each year.
- The blow is equivalent to the four times the imputed income for retailing, and even exceeds the entire annual business fee.
Unless immediate measures are taken, the consequences will be devastating both for Greek and European trade with padlocks, job loss, etc., the president concluded.
Critical situation for European trade from uncontrolled entry of Asian products without duties
Eurocommerce General Manager Chrisel Delberghe said in her position that the situation is extremely critical, as there is mass export of products to Europe without the imposition of duties, affecting all areas of trade.
The phenomenon has exacerbated after the change of US policy towards Asian companies, and in particular the imposition of strict duties. As a result, companies such as TEMU and the like, after being removed from the US market, turned to the European market, where they managed to make a dramatic increase in sales.
The size of the problem is reflected in the following items:
- In 2024 4.6 billion packages were handled, with the estimation of 6 billion packages for 2025, the vast majority of which come from China.
- These are unfair competition, as many of these companies do not comply with the mandatory standards applicable to European businesses, nor are they subject to the same controls and burdens.
Emergency decision-making is required, both at the level of Member States and at the Union level, to address the underground penetration of this kind of trade, which undermines national economies.
Already, meetings are being held in the EU for immediate measures, with the aim of customs reform, strengthening controls and fighting for duties and unfair commercial practices. At the same time, there is cooperation with the ERC in the context of coordination with competent European bodies to safeguard the territorial sourcing.
An additional issue concerns geographical restrictions within the EU. As the Director General said, although the cost of living is high, many large companies are exploiting gaps in the legislation, maintaining artificial prices artificially prices and breaking the local market.
We are already in consultation with the governments, she continued to legislate restrictions at national level in order to protect domestic markets from the unfair behavior of multinationals.
In fact, he emphasized that the European Commission has studied the phenomenon and estimates that these practices burden the European consumer with 14 billion euros a year, a serious obstacle to the unification of the European market.
K. Mousouroulis: Not in two -speed trade in Europe
“We are discussing the alarming looting of Europe’s productive base. It is not possible for the European market to operate two meters and two weights, as this creates unfair competition and injustice. This is the dark side of the trade that needs to be addressed immediately, “said ERC’s head of international relations Kostis Mousouroulis.
He referred to the actions promoted by the EU, but also to the need to proceed with a comprehensive package of institutional interventions, with the aim of detecting infringements before importing products into the EU.
One of the important measures being considered, as he recalled, is the abolition of a 150 -euro exemption for microdimas, as well as the VAT yield from the first euro. These changes are expected to bring significant revenue, which is estimated at more than a billion euros from customs duties. At the same time, the phenomenon of “VAT vacuum” will be limited and healthy market competition will be enhanced.