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Hungary singled out for its price cap measures

by AI | 12.Sep 2024 | Europe in brief AI

The European Court of Justice on Thursday struck down Hungary’s cap on food prices introduced to fight inflation, a decision favorable to multinationals unhappy with Budapest’s economic policy.

A sign informs customers of the extension of price caps to other basic products such as potatoes and eggs, in a supermarket in Budapest, on November 15, 2022. (Photo: ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP)

Budapest – The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled “contrary to European law” a decree announced in early 2022 by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban and aimed at regulating the marketing of several basic products, such as sugar, flour or milk. 

According to this text in force until July 2023, distributors were required to “offer for sale a predefined quantity at a regulated price,” recalls the Court in a statement.

Fined for non-compliance with daily quantities, the Austrian supermarket chain Spar initiated proceedings before a Hungarian court, which decided to question the Court in Luxembourg. 

This decree “undermines free competition” and is “not proportionate” to the objectives pursued, ruled the CJEU in its decision. Budapest accused the Court of “siding with profit-hungry multinationals,” condemning Spar which, according to it, seeks to “recover lost revenue in the courts” instead of “restoring its competitiveness.” (September 12, 2024)