European Commission President welcomes Greek PM’s intervention on unfair trade practices

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has welcomed Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ call for measures to curb unfair trading practices by multinationals that lead to the same products being sold at different prices in different member states.

In a June 28 response to the letter sent by the Greek prime minister in May, Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged that territorial supply constraints imposed by large manufacturers “effectively create price discrimination between consumers.”

She stressed that existing competition laws are effective against constraints if “companies are in a dominant position or have entered into non-competitive agreements”, adding that the European Union “is constantly updating its rules”.

To this end, she said, an inquiry will be conducted to explore possible solutions to the risk raised by Mitsotakis of price discrimination leading to a fragmentation of the Single Market.