The European Commission welcomed the commitment of Greece and other member states to seeking solutions regarding the issue of geographical supply constraints and the single market. Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis had sent a letter to the EC highlighting the price discrepancies across EU member states on products by multinational corporations.
In response to a question about European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s reply to the letter by Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the issue, Commission spokesperson Johanna Bernsel stated that the Commission received Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ letter in May and Ursula von der Leyen responded last Friday. She noted that geographical supply constraints imposed by large manufacturers are concerning as they prevent retailers from fully benefiting from the single market and create price discrimination among consumers within the EU.
The spokesperson added that the Commission has taken strong measures to address some of these practices that fall under competition rules, and in May, a fine of over 300 million euros was imposed.
“As correctly observed by Greece and other member states, there are concerns about the fragmentation of the single market, some of which cannot be addressed by competition rules as they fall outside the scope of these rules,” she said, emphasizing that the European Council, in its conclusions on the future of the single market, called on the Commission to address the issue for the benefit of consumers and businesses.
She noted that the Commission will collect data from competition investigations, other studies, and analyses in collaboration with member states. The results of this investigative mission will inform the next Commission on potential policy measures to address unjustified geographical supply constraints.
