The European Parliament has called for the EU to prevent food retailers grabbing market share by selling food products below cost price.


A report approved today (26 March) by MEPs said that a European Commission survey on food prices in Europe “fails to include the abuse of the dominant position observed at the retail stage”.


Branding the big retailers “anti-competitive” when selling goods below cost, the parliament’s report said in the long term this would damage food consumers, producers and manufacturers:


“MEPs are calling for European-level action to be taken”, it concluded.


In particular, MEPs want the Commission to create an accessible Europe-wide database on food costs.