The European Commission is threatening legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against Greece, which it accuses of unnecessarily restricting its trade in partially-baked products.


Food shops in Greece selling half-baked or frozen bread and other baked products, that require a brief final stage of baking or heating, must obtain a bakers’ licence. This “has had the effect of limiting imports of ‘bake-off’ products from other (EU) member states”, said the Commission.


It has been pushing Greece to reform the system and has now given it a legal final warning letter, telling it to ensure that part-baking is “not subject to the same conditions as full baking and bread making”.