BREAKING – European Commission launches infringement procedures against Hungary over markup caps
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The European Commission on Wednesday launched infringement procedures against Hungary over mandatory markup caps on a range of food and non-food products the government introduced to counter inflation.
The EC said the measures violated freedom of establishment rules that require authorities to “ensure the equal treatment and non-discrimination of economic operators and to refrain from restricting economic activities unless such restrictions are justified to attain certain public interest considerations”.
“Hungary limits the margin between purchase prices and sales prices of certain products to a level that no longer covers the costs of foreign companies beyond their costs for purchasing products, forcing non-Hungarian retailers to sell their products at a loss,” the EC explained.
Hungarian authorities have two months to respond to the shortcomings raised in the EC’s “letters of formal notice” which indicate the start of an infringement procedure.
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