EU Told To Tackle Food Cost Differences Across The Bloc

Eight EU states urged Brussels Friday to clamp down on multinational giants unfairly limiting the sale of products within the bloc, forcing European consumers to pay more

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th May, 2024) Eight EU states urged Brussels Friday to clamp down on multinational giants unfairly limiting the sale of products within the bloc, forcing European consumers to pay more.

Their call comes a day after the European Commission slapped a 337.5-million-euro ($366-million) antitrust fine on Mondelez, the US confectioner behind major brands including Toblerone and Oreo, for restricting cross-border sales of chocolate. The cost of living is a hot topic ahead of EU-wide elections in June as European households have been hit hard by soaring consumer prices following the coronavirus pandemic and Russia's war on Ukraine.

Inflation has slowed down since its peak in late 2022 but food costs remain high.

Several EU countries believe addressing unfairness in the single market is one way to help struggling consumers. Eight EU governments led by the Netherlands said there are price differences for the same products within the European Union and Brussels "should take action" if it was because big multinationals were limiting the sale of goods in the EU's single market. The seven others named in a joint paper are Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg and Slovakia. The issue was discussed during a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels Friday.

EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Brussels would start with a "fact-finding mission" and then "figure out what tools are actually necessary in order to prevent territorial restrictions that make prices rise where they shouldn't".

The commission, the EU's antitrust watchdog, would work with member states to find a solution, she told reporters after the meeting.

The constraints cost EU consumers more than 14 billion Euros a year, the eight countries said, pointing to an estimate from a 2020 commission study.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also urged the EU to crack down on giant firms at the weekend in a letter to commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.

The free movement of goods is one of the key pillars of the EU's single market.

"Removing trade barriers should be a key priority for the single market. This helps in keeping consumer retail prices for food and non-food products fair. Something which is especially important in times of high consumer prices," Dutch Economy Minister Micky Adriaansens said.

The eight states propose "a concrete way forward towards an EU ban" on restricting the exchange of goods within the bloc "by amending existing or new common EU rules or instruments", she added.

The concerns are not new. In 2019, Brussels fined the world's largest brewer AB InBev 200 million euros for hindering cheaper beer imports into Belgium from the Netherlands.

raz/imm/