Brussels, 16/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - EU law allows member states to prohibit traders from announcing price reductions without indicating or displaying the reference price. However, this prohibition may not be general, as it must stem from a specific analysis carried out by the authorities in order to establish that a commercial operation is unfair.
This, in substance, is the conclusion reached by the Court of Justice in a judgment published on Tuesday 15 September. In this case (C-13/15), the French Cour de Cassation approached the Court of Justice to ask whether the obligation upon traders in France to state the reference price on the basis of which advertised price reductions are calculated runs counter to the directive on unfair commercial practices (2005/29/EC).
The Court of Justice found, firstly, that the directive in question applies only if the provisions of French law in question pursue the purposes of consumer protection. It is for the Cour de Cassation to determine whether this is the case.
Secondly, in the event that the directive does apply, the Court found that it does not prevent price reductions from being advertised to consumers without stating or displaying the reference price. In this regard, French law does not comply with the directive, as it generally prohibits any advertising of reduced prices not stating the reference price, without obliging the competent authorities to determine, on the basis of the context, whether the commercial operation is of an unfair nature. (Jan Kordys)