Brussels, 19/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 18 February, the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, announced the official adoption of the written declaration requesting the European Commission to investigate abuses of dominant position committed in the supermarket sector (EUROPE 9522). The text has the strength of an EP resolution because it was signed by a majority of MEPs. On 19 February it was sent to the Commission and Council.
Last October, the written declaration was submitted by Caroline Lucas (Greens/EFA, United Kingdom), Gyula Hegyi (PES, Hungary), Janusz Wojciechowski (UEN, Poland), Harlem Désir (PES, France) and Hélène Flautre (Greens/EFA, France). It calls on the Commission's DG Competition to investigate the consequences of mergers in the European supermarket sector suffered by small businesses, suppliers, workers and consumers and, in particular, seeks to assess any abuses linked to purchasing power resulting from the merger in question. The Commission is called on to propose appropriate measures, including regulation, to protect consumers, workers and producers from any abuse of dominant position or negative impacts identified in the course of this investigation.
The EP believes that big supermarkets are abusing their power to force down prices to suppliers (based in the EU and overseas) to unsustainable levels and impose unfair conditions upon them. It also affirms that consumers potentially face a loss in diversity of products, cultural heritage and retail outlets. The EP says that whereas some EU countries have introduced national legislation attempting to limit such abuse, the large supermarkets increasingly operate across national boundaries, making harmonised EU legislation desirable. However, as the big supermarkets are operating in an increasingly cross-border manner, MEPs believe it would be desirable to harmonise Community legislation on the matter (L.C.)