Retail industry association Eurocommerce has filed an official complaint with the European Commission over a French law that prevents retailers and wholesalers from buying products at a pan-European level, thereby impacting their ability to offer lower prices to shoppers.
The so-called “Descrozaille law” is the third in a series of French laws on commercial relations between suppliers and buyers. It would infringe EU rules on free movement of goods, services, and establishment as well as EU laws on choice of law by imposing French law and giving exclusive jurisdiction to French courts for all commercial negotiations that involve products destined for the French market.
Eurocommerce questions why many sectors in the economy are encouraged to seek economies of scale in Europe (e.g. vaccines, energy), while this is not the case for the fast-moving consumer goods sector. A spike in inflation has heightened tensions between supermarket chains and consumer goods firms in Europe over the price of branded products, with retailers like France's Carrefour accusing some packaged food and drink firms of unjustified price rises.