EU told to tackle food cost differences across the bloc

BRUSSELS, (Belgium): 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 since 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, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg and Slovakia. The issue was to be discussed during a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels later Friday.

It is up to the commission, the EU’s competition watchdog, to decide whether to pursue the matter.

The constraints cost EU consumers more than 14 billion euros a year, the 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.