Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will attempt to set in motion a European Union response to pricing policies that are driving prices in Greece higher than in richer EU countries, Minister of State Akis Skertsos revealed in a social media post on Friday.
He said the issue of different prices for the same products that are charged by multinationals in different countries will be raised in the prime minister's letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging a European response to a phenomenon known as "territorial supply constraints" that is not currently considered an unfair practice.
Skertsos framed his post as a reply to questions on why the European elections are linked to high prices and why the "fight for better and fairer prices goes through Brussels and our vote on June 9," stressing that the government acknowledges that there is a problem.
"It is truly provocative that, while our income is still very far from the European [incomes], there are similar products of multinational companies that are more expensive in Greece in comparison with other European markets, where consumers have greater purchasing power," he pointed out.
He said this phenomenon was known as "territorial supply constraints" and constituted a commercial practice that was not illegal but was abused by multinations due to their much greater power than individual member-states or individual wholesalers and retailers.
According to Skertsos, how this practice operates on a European level had only come to be understood in recent years and was therefore not addressed in European legislation so that national competition authorities would be able to impose sanctions.
"The collective strength of the European Union and economy have not been used effectively to date to jointly tackle unfair practices that a country cannot tackle alone…only united Europe and the single European market can successfully contend with the multinational giants," he added.
Greece and the Greek government, Skertsos said, will therefore ask the European Commission president in a letter to make this issue a top priority of the next Commission and European Parliament. He also urged the opposition parties to support this effort in Europe, though noting that this initiative will need time to bring results.
"We have to try, however, as this is the only way to understand the importance of the strength our union has for the real protection of consumers and our incomes," Skertsos concluded, stressing that the votes in the upcoming European elections "must count" and support the government, not be cast as protest votes.