Urgent need to take measures at European level to combat shrinkflation
30.1.2024
Question for written answer E-000275/2024
to the Commission
Rule 138
Dimitrios Papadimoulis (The Left)
For the past two years, consumers have been faced with a prolonged cost-of-living crisis due to the explosion of inflation, skyrocketing prices and a significant reduction in their buying power. At the same time, there has been a Europe-wide spread in the phenomenon of reduced size or quantity of products sold in the same packaging, with prices remaining the same or, more commonly, increasing (shrinkflation). Such practices increase the real cost of products, are not easily noticed by consumers, and aggravate still further the cost-of-living crisis in which millions of citizens throughout Europe find themselves. In the absence of an effective European framework for protecting consumers against escalating shrinkflation, some countries are taking, or preparing to take, national measures to combat it[1].
In view of this:
- 1.Does the Commission consider shrinkflation to be a misleading commercial practice[2]?
- 2.Does it intend to take steps to combat this phenomenon, including amendment of the regulation on provision of consumer information on foods[3], so that it will be compulsory to indicate cases of shrinkflation on product packaging?
- 3.What measures can national governments take to combat this phenomenon?
Submitted:30.1.2024
- [1] https://www.just-food.com/news/france-seeks-eu-approval-for-shrinkflation-move/?cf-view, https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/2023/09/29/germany-drafting-anti-shrinkflation-law
- [2] Article 6 of Directive 2005/29/EC, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EL/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32005L0029.
- [3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/1169/2018-01-01?locale=el