The EU has been ordered to tackle disparities in food costs across the bloc

Greece is one of eight EU countries that have called on Brussels to deal with international giants that unfairly limit sales of products within the EU, forcing European consumers to pay higher rates.

Their call came a day after the European Commission imposed an antitrust fine of 337.5 million euros ($366 million) on Mondelez, the U.S. confectioner behind major brands including Toblerone and Oreo, for restricting cross-border sales of chocolate.

The cost of living is a hot topic ahead of the pan-European EU elections in June, as European households have been hit hard by soaring consumer prices in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Inflation has fallen since its peak in late 2022, but food costs remain high.

Several EU countries believe that tackling unfairness in the single market is one way to help struggling consumers.

Eight EU governments, led by the Netherlands, said there were price differences across the European Union for the same products and Brussels “should take action” if it was because large multinationals restricted the sale of goods in the EU single market.

The other seven listed in the joint document are Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg and Slovakia. This issue was discussed during Friday’s meeting of EU ministers in Brussels.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Brussels would start with a “fact-finding mission” and then “determine what tools are actually necessary to prevent territorial restrictions causing prices to go up where they shouldn’t.”

The Commission, the EU’s antitrust watchdog, will work with member states to find a solution, it told reporters after the meeting.

Restrictions cost EU consumers more than €14 billion a year, eight countries said, citing estimates in a 2020 Commission study.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also called on the EU to crack down on giant companies in a weekend letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The free movement of goods is one of the key pillars of the EU single market.

“Removing trade barriers should be a key priority of the single market. This helps maintain fair retail prices for food and non-food products for consumers. Something that is particularly important in times of high consumer prices,” said Dutch Economy Minister Micky Adriaansens.

The eight countries are proposing a “concrete step towards introducing an EU ban” on restricting trade in goods within the bloc “by amending existing or new common EU rules or instruments,” she added.

The concerns are not new. In 2019, Brussels imposed a fine of EUR 200 million on the world’s largest brewer, AB InBev, for obstructing the import of cheaper beer from the Netherlands to Belgium.