Belgium at Heart of New Challenge to Territorial Supply Constraints
- 28/05/2024
- News
On 23 May 2024, the European Commission (the Commission) announced its decision to fine Mondelēz on account of several contractual arrangements and unilateral moves to restrict cross-border trade in biscuits, chocolates and coffee (see, Van Bael & Bellis Belgian Antitrust Watch of 23 May 2024). The following day, Ministers of the 27 Member States met for the second part of a Competitiveness Council to discuss a range of internal market and industry matters.
The fight against Territorial Supply Constraints (TSCs) featured prominently on the agenda at the request of the Dutch government. In a note supported by 7 other Member States, including Belgium, the Dutch government called on the Commission to (i) prohibit unfair practices in business-to-business relations that discriminate against a retailer on the basis of its place of establishment; and (ii) investigate the extent to which suppliers use different languages on labels and packaging to justify restrictions on the sale of identical products in specific Member States (Annex 1). The Dutch government also published a note clarifying its position on TSCs (Annex 2).
During the press conference following the Competitiveness Council, Commissioner Vestager, responsible for competition matters, indicated that the Commission would carry out a fact-finding exercise that would allow policy-makers to define exactly what is at stake and craft new policy instruments to tackle the full range of TSCs.
In response, the European brand association AIM published a statement welcoming the Commission’s fact-finding plan and repeating its often-stated position that any differences in consumer goods prices across Member States result from a host of factors of a regulatory and policy nature (Annex 3).
Following a range of studies carried out at the request of a variety of organisations and governments, it looks as though the fight against TSCs has gained wider traction and will take place at various levels of government, at both EU and national level, and may take the form of both regulatory action and competition enforcement.
