Single market – tackling unjustified territorial supply constraints

Key points

The EESC:

• believes that territorial supply constraints (TSCs) harm cross-border business and break the single market’s promise to bring choice and price competition to consumers;
• believes that it is particularly important for consumers and workers to leverage all potential benefits from a well-functioning single market in terms of prices and product choice;
• urges the Member States not to adopt national legislation that would further renationalise the market for sourcing, but instead to remove unjustified barriers to the free movement of goods without undermining legitimate consumer protection requirements;
• sees added value in exploring the possibility of creating guidelines for national competition authorities and relevant stakeholders;
• asks the European Commission to consider proposing legislation based on the principles of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) or the Directive on unfair trading practices (UTP) in the agri-food supply chain in order to effectively address territorial supply constraints and ensure fairer commercial practices in the supply chain.

For more information, please contact INT secretariat