EU Judgment in Case C-557/23 SPAR Magyarország

Thursday 12th September

Judgment in Case C-557/23 SPAR Magyarország

(Agriculture and Fisheries)

In February 2022, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hungary regulated the marketing of six basic products (certain types of sugar, wheat flour, sunflower oil, pork and poultry meat, and milk) by government decree.

From November 2022, due to the war in Ukraine, the decree was amended and two more products were added to the list, namely eggs and potatoes.

The government decree remained in force until July 31, 2023.

Under the terms of the government decree, distributors who had already marketed these products at an earlier date were required, on pain of a fine, to offer for sale a predefined quantity – based firstly on the average daily quantity offered for sale during a reference period and secondly on the quantity of the products in question in stock during that reference period – at a regulated price.

In May 2023, the Hungarian authorities imposed a fine on the retailer SPAR Magyarország, finding that, in one of its sales outlets, it had not complied with the daily stock quantities for five products covered by the decree.

SPAR brought proceedings before the court in Szeged (Hungary) to have the authorities’ decision annulled.

Having doubts about the compatibility of the government decree with the Common organisation of the markets (CMO) Regulation and in particular with the principle of free determination of selling prices for agricultural products on the basis of free competition, the Hungarian court referred the matter to the Court of Justice.

Background Documents C-557/23

Donnerstag, 12. September 2024

Urteil des Gerichtshofs in der Rechtssache C‑557/23 SPAR Magyarország

Regulierung von Preis und Angebotsmenge bei bestimmten Lebensmitteln

Im Zuge der Covid-19-Pandemie sowie des Ukrainekriegs verpflichtete Ungarn Lebensmittelhändler, bestimmte Produkte wie Kristallzucker, Weizenmehl, Sonnenblumenöl, Schinken, Eier, Milch und Kartoffeln zu einem bestimmten Preis und mindestens in der Menge anzubieten, wie sie diese Produkte in den Jahren 2021 bzw. 2022 auf Lager hatten.

Nachdem bei einer Kontrolle in einer Spar-Filiale ein Verstoß gegen diese Verpflichtung festgestellt worden war, verhängten die ungarischen Behörden gegen SPAR Magyarország eine Geldbuße in Höhe von fast 6000 Euro. Spar hat den Bescheid vor einem ungarischen Gericht angefochten.

Das ungarische Gericht möchte vom Gerichtshof wissen, ob die streitige Regelung, die bis Ende Juli 2023 galt, mit dem Unionsrecht vereinbar ist. Ohne Schlussanträge.

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