Brussels, 03/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the European Commission said that broadly speaking, it was not possible to say there had been a generalised rise in prices due to the arrival of the Euro, but the Commission pledged that it would ask Member States to make more frequent price controls. The spokesperson for Commissioner Pedro Solbes said that care would need to be taken to avoid "misunderstandings", since one could not imagine that prices would not change at all between 2001 and 2002 and also that the situation would need to be closely monitored to determine whether price rises were linked to improvements in products.
The spokesperson explained that proposals had been made for Member States to check prices more frequently, even as often as once a week during the transition period and stressed that the prime objective was to have greater transparency during this period. He said that the Commission had not yet received a wholly positive response from all Member States but Mr Solbes would be raising the issue at the next Eurogroup meeting, planned for 21 September. The Commission hopes that such a control mechanism will be implemented in all Member States even if it does not take the same form across the EU. The spokesperson continued that saying that the Commission cannot set or dictate prices since its role was simply to ensure that consumers receive proper information. He pointed out that the Commission had already taken action by encouraging users and retailers and small companies to sign a price moderation agreement. He noted that the Finance Ministers had reached agreement on the necessity of properly converting public prices into Euro.
France takes the lead
In order to avoid excessive price rises in his country, the French Finance and Economics Minister, Laurent Fabius, announced that prices would be checked once a fortnight and that retailers making errors that penalised consumers with conversion to Euros would be prosecuted. Bakers and dairy producers will be monitored particularly closely. The French Directorate General for Competition, Consumers and Fighting Fraud (DGCCRF), which checked 15 000 bakery prices in July and 21 000 in August, noted an increase of 0.8% in prices in August, following on from a 0.4% rise in July, which is the equivalent of a 7.2% price rise over a year. The Finance Minister reported a general price rise of 0.5% in July and 0.4% in August, or more than 5% in a year for a range of typical items such as sugar, beer, Camembert cheese, washing powder, nappies and razors.