EU orders are temporarily paused

We’re sorry. We hope this is only temporary.

This is very frustrating for us, and is a decision we did not want to make.

TL;DR:

Artimia has temporarily paused online sales to EU countries outside Spain due to new packaging (EPR) compliance rules.
These rules require small businesses to register, report, and pay fees in multiple EU countries, a process which can become very expensive, potentially amounting to thousands of euros per year.
For a microbusiness like Artimia, these fixed costs can exceed the profit from EU orders.
This is a temporary pause while we look for a compliant and affordable solution; Spain and non-EU orders are still available.
We are only one of thousands of small businesses affected throughout the EU; you can support us and others by signing a Change.org petition calling for a moratorium on cross-border EPR fees.
Leave your email below and we will let you know when ordering from your country becomes available again.

If you are visiting Artimia from a European Union country outside Spain, you may have noticed that prices and purchase buttons are currently unavailable.

Artimia has temporarily paused direct online sales to EU countries outside Spain.

This is not a decision we wanted to make, and it is not because we no longer want to sell to European collectors and supporters.

It is the result of new European packaging compliance requirements that have become extremely difficult and expensive for very small cross-border businesses like ours.

What has changed?

When we send an order, even a small print, book or T-shirt, we also place packaging into the customer's country: a cardboard box or envelope, protective paper, tape and a small amount of plastic.

Under Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, businesses are responsible for the packaging they introduce into the market, effective August 12, 2026.

The principle itself is understandable: companies should contribute to the cost of collecting and recycling the packaging they generate.

The problem for a tiny business selling across Europe is how this system is being implemented across borders.

Under the new EU packaging rules, a small online shop selling directly to customers in other EU countries can face obligations such as:

registering separately in different Member States;
joining national packaging recycling schemes;
reporting very small quantities of packaging;
paying national fees and administrative costs;
and, importantly, appointing an authorised EPR representative in each of the EU countries it operates.

These requirements can create fixed annual costs in each country, even when a business sends only one or two parcels there during the entire year.

Why is this a problem for Artimia?

Artimia is not a large international retailer.

We are a very small independent online store in Spain dedicated to the work of artists Tomás Barceló and Francesc Grimalt.

Our European customers are scattered across many countries. We might receive a few orders from France, Austria, Germany or Finland, and perhaps a single order from another EU country during an entire year.

The actual amount of packaging involved is tiny.

However, complying separately with the administrative system of many different countries can potentially cost thousands of euros every year, before the cost of the packaging itself, shipping, payment fees or the time required to manage all the paperwork.

For a microbusiness, those fixed costs can easily be higher than the profit generated by the European orders they are supposed to regulate.

At that point, continuing to accept orders while we determine the correct compliance structure would not be financially responsible.

So are you leaving the EU market?

No.

This is a temporary pause, not a permanent closure.

We are currently studying the available compliance options and contacting European EPR providers to find a solution that is legally compliant but proportionate to the size of our business.

If the rules are simplified, the authorised representative requirement changes, or we find an affordable solution for a small business like Artimia, we intend to reopen EU ordering as soon as reasonably possible.

Customers in Spain can continue ordering normally, and orders to countries outside the European Union remain available as usual.

What can I do?

Unfortunately, Artimia is far from the only small European business facing this problem.

A petition has been created calling for an immediate moratorium on cross-border EPR requirements that disproportionately affect EU microbusinesses.

If you believe small independent businesses should be able to contribute fairly to recycling without having to maintain expensive administrative arrangements in dozens of countries, you can support the petition here:

→ Sign the petition: Stop destroying EU micro-businesses – Immediate moratorium on cross-border EPR fees

Signing is, of course, entirely optional.

But if you are an EU customer who would like to buy from Artimia again, your support can help show that these rules have real consequences for small independent shops, artists, makers and their customers.