Ministry of Economic Affairs
The government strongly rejects the “untrue and malicious allegations” made by the SPAR retail chain. In fact, special taxes were levied not only in retail, but in several sectors.
As the Ministry of Economic Affairs wrote in a media release on Monday, the so-called excess profits tax was introduced in all sectors in which such excess profits occurred, such as retail, the energy sector and the financial sector. The Orbán government wanted to protect families in crisis and defend the achievements of its policy of reducing energy costs. The energy crisis and rampant inflation generated sector-specific “special income” for which “no effort had to be made” by market players. The government therefore skimmed off these profits and transferred them to the special fund to protect the officially fixed energy tariffs. In principle, the government takes the position that the population should not pay the price for war, sanctions and the energy crisis.
All measures served a purpose
The economic department emphasizes that the special tax for retail has already been recognized as legal by the ECJ in proceedings. “Any allegations that contradict this are unjustified,” said the ministry against the SPAR complaint before the EU Commission, which wants to recognize a distortion of competition in the Hungarian retail market. The measures introduced by the government to dictate prices for selected staple foods, mandatory discount campaigns and online price monitoring served the sole purpose of reducing food inflation, which is particularly high in Hungary. These measures were successful, as the inflation rate fell to 3.7% by February and the increase in food prices even fell to 2.2%.
Keep up better with the competition
As if Economics Minister Márton Nagy had personally written the press release, the department does not just leave these arguments alone, but immediately launches a counterattack. Apparently, based on its communication, the SPAR Group has no understanding of the government’s measures. “Such behavior is directed against the interests of Hungarian consumers.” In reality, it is not the measures listed that are behind the attacks against the government, but the fact that the retail chain is making losses.
“SPAR Magyarország Kft. does not operate efficiently, but rather at a higher cost level compared to the competition, which is why the chain lags behind the competition. “But instead of working to strengthen our own competitiveness, unfounded false reports are spread,” the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. It concludes with the repeated point that only companies that behave in accordance with the law and at the same time keep the interests of local consumers in mind by offering good quality products at good prices are allowed to operate on the local market.
#ECJ #agreed