Fines and profiteering

Food prices. The prices of nutrient and non-alcoholic beverages successful Greece successful 2024 were 6% higher than the mean complaint successful the European Union, arsenic nutrient ostentation persists. According to Eurostat information released connected Thursday, Greece is among the past countries successful terms of purchasing power, while successful 2024 it was the 10th astir costly successful terms of food.

Fines for profiteering person go something of a governmental ritual successful Greece. They’re announced with large gravitas and then vanish into the ether of the tribunal system. There’s nary uncertainty that fines are essential; they conscionable request to beryllium treated arsenic important beyond the time of their announcement. The information is that, arsenic things stand now, they person nary existent interaction connected prices oregon connected the structure of the market.

Perhaps the astir notorious ungraded successful the decennary starring up to the Greek situation was that of the so-called beverage cartel successful 2007. The Competition Commission issued a good of astir €48 cardinal against the country’s large beverage producers for collusive practices, but arsenic their cases dragged connected successful the courts for years, these fines were either reduced oregon dropped altogether. Milk prices, however, ne'er dropped significantly. The marketplace did not alteration and consumers continued paying too overmuch for milk.

During that aforesaid decade, successful the 2005-2008 period, the αυτοκίνητο substance marketplace came under suspicion of price-fixing and state station companies were fined millions – but prices astatine the pump remained steadily precocious and the fines were reduced successful court.

More recently, during the archetypal signifier of the Covid pandemic, when masks and manus sanitizers became arsenic valuable arsenic gold, caps were acceptable connected their prices and supermarket chains were fined for charging too much. Prices did not stablilize due to the fact that of the fines, nor due to the fact that of the cap, however, but lone when accumulation increased. When supply covered demand. The fines were thing abbreviated of a indispensable “PR vaccine” so the state could look to beryllium doing something.

When policies are constricted to fines oregon punitive measures, they usually nutrient the other effect. In Turkey, where adjacent stricter measures were imposed, such arsenic mandatory terms cuts connected basal goods, the outgo was enormous: terrible marketplace distortions, merchandise shortages, and runaway inflation. In short, the state tin use punitive measures to bring prices down lone temporarily; σύντομα after, the occupation erupts adjacent worse.

It’s worth noting that fines beryllium crossed Western Europe but are imposed lone successful utmost cases. More often, the preferred attack is cooperating with businesses, arsenic is the lawsuit with the terms reductions connected 1,000 products presently being rolled retired successful Greece. Targeted subsidies are besides used, on with galore structural reforms aimed astatine reducing vigor costs and strengthening competition.

The existent conflict against precocious prices is won by expanding production, improving contention and bolstering investment.