Which EU countries require an EPR authorised representative?

Since 12 August 2026, appointing an EPR authorised representative has been mandatory across the entire EU for online sellers who make packaging available in a member state where they are not established. This harmonised requirement is enforced under Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging, replacing a patchwork of national rules under which Austria and Spain already required a local representative while Germany treated it as optional.

The harmonised rule now applies in each of the 27 EU member states, and each one still runs its own national scheme and producer register that a seller files through directly.

The Harmonised EU Position Under PPWR

For years, e-commerce merchants selling internationally within the European Union have struggled with a fragmented compliance landscape. Determining who needs to register for epr is a critical first step, but local rules on whether a foreign seller must appoint a local legal representative have varied widely by country.

The regulatory patchwork has now ended. Under Article 45(3) of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), a unified European rule took effect on 12 August 2026. Since that date, any producer making packaging available directly to end-users in a member state where they are not established must appoint an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility in that specific country. These requirements are part of a broader regulatory timeline outlined in the EPR registration rules for the EU in 2026.

"A producer ... shall appoint, by written mandate, an authorised representative for the extended producer responsibility in each Member State where the producer makes packaging or packaged products available for the first time, other than the Member State where the producer is established." — Article 45(3), Regulation (EU) 2025/40

In practice the obligation is EU law but the process stays local: there is no single EU register, so you still appoint the representative and file through each country's existing national scheme. Member States may also require producers established in third countries to appoint a representative in the same way.

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Spain: Mandatory Representation for B2C Sellers

Spain has already implemented a strict mandate for foreign businesses selling directly to Spanish households. Under Spanish law, non-established companies that place packaged goods on the market are considered "producers" and must comply with the local extended producer responsibility framework.

According to the rules set up under the Spanish MITECO packaging register, any company based outside Spain that conducts first-time commercialisation directly to Spanish end-users must designate an authorised representative. This representative is legally responsible for completing the producer inscription in the section for packaging (sección envases) and submitting the mandatory annual declarations.

Austria: Compulsory Representatives for Distance Selling

Austria took a decisive step to eliminate free-riding in cross-border e-commerce by introducing a strict representation mandate. Under § 16b of the Austrian Packaging Ordinance (Verpackungsverordnung), foreign mail-order and distance sellers (Versandhändler) who do not have a seat or business establishment in Austria must appoint an authorised representative.

The Austrian representative must be a natural or legal person based in Austria, holding a domestic service address, who assumes full administrative and financial liability for the foreign seller's packaging. This requirement has been fully mandatory under the Austrian Packaging Ordinance since 1 January 2023. Cross-border B2C distance sellers must ensure they have a valid, notarised mandate in place with their Austrian representative to avoid severe fines and sales bans.

Germany: from optional to mandatory

Germany is the clearest example of how much changed on 12 August 2026. Until then, appointing a representative was optional there: under § 35(2) of the old German Packaging Act (VerpackG), a producer without a registered branch in Germany could appoint an authorised representative but was not obliged to.

The old VerpackG has been replaced. Germany's new Packaging Law Implementation Act (Verpackungsrecht-Durchführungsgesetz, VerpackDG), in force since 12 August 2026, transposes Article 45(3) of the PPWR directly: under § 5(2) VerpackDG a producer without an establishment in Germany must now appoint an authorised representative before making packaging available to German end-users.

The one duty a representative still cannot take on is the registration itself, which under § 6 VerpackDG remains the producer's own non-delegable task, so the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR) still lets foreign merchants register directly and free of charge in the LUCID system. The ZSVR guidance on authorising a representative sets out exactly which duties can be delegated.

France: the foreign seller is the producer

France has long treated a non-established company that sells directly to French consumers as the "producer" liable for EPR. Under Article L541-10 of the Code de l'environnement, the duty falls on anyone who sells or first makes a waste-generating product available on the French market, and registration with the administrative authority plus a unique identifier (IDU) is required from the very first unit under Article L541-10-13.

French rules also route the obligation through an approved éco-organisme: foreign sellers discharge it by joining a scheme such as Citeo or Adelphe. Since 12 August 2026 the PPWR adds the explicit duty to appoint an authorised representative on top of that registration.

Italy: the marketplace gap closed on 12 August 2026

Italy is the clearest example of a loophole being closed. Before the PPWR, a foreign company selling into Italy did not automatically owe obligations to the packaging consortium CONAI: under Article 178-quater of Legislative Decree 152/2006, a seller using an online marketplace could discharge its EPR duties through the simplified arrangements agreed between the platform and the EPR systems, and joining CONAI directly was often voluntary.

The Italian loophole closed on 12 August 2026, when that route stopped exempting anyone: PPWR Article 44(4) bars first placing packaging on Italian territory without being registered there, and Article 45(3) requires a non-established seller to appoint an authorised representative.

Do you need a representative everywhere? The simple rule

Yes, in practice, for the markets you don't operate from. Since 12 August 2026, PPWR Article 45(3) requires a producer to appoint an authorised representative in every EU member state where it makes packaging available for the first time and is not established there. In plain terms: if you sell to consumers in an EU country where your business has no legal establishment, you need a representative in that country.

The representative requirement runs alongside your own registration: there is no single EU register, so you still appoint the representative and file through each country's own national scheme. Austria and Spain already required a local representative under national law before the PPWR; elsewhere the duty was harmonised on 12 August 2026.

National scheme and register, by EU country

The table below maps the national packaging scheme (the producer responsibility organisation you join) and the producer register or authority you file through in each EU market. This is the durable part of the picture — the PPWR keeps national registers rather than replacing them, so the scheme and register you deal with are unlikely to change. The finer detail of the appointment process and some national implementing laws were still being finalised across several countries during the 2026 transition, so confirm the exact current step with your representative or the national authority before you file.

National registers: Italy to Sweden

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Sources:

• Article 45(3), Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on the appointment of an EPR authorised representative
• European Commission FAQs on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation
• § 16b of Austria's Verpackungsverordnung 2014 (RIS consolidated text)
• Article 17.2 of Spain's Real Decreto 1055/2022 on the authorised representative (BOE consolidated text)
• § 5(2) of Germany's Verpackungsrecht-Durchführungsgesetz (VerpackDG), BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 207
• The German Central Agency Packaging Register (ZSVR) guidance on authorising a representative
• The Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition (MITECO) producer registration procedure
• Articles L541-10 and L541-10-13 of the French Code de l'environnement on producer registration and the unique identifier (Légifrance)
• Article 178-quater of Italy's Legislative Decree 152/2006 on EPR obligations (Normattiva)