Brussels Sues Hungary over Food Price Caps

The European Commission has taken legal action against Hungary's food price regulations, suing Budapest at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The lawsuit concerns a decree imposing a 10% cap on supermarket profit margins for selected products, such as milk, sugar and poultry, according to Euractiv.

The rules were approved in 2025 by the previous government, but Peter Magyar's administration kept them in place out of concern that their sudden repeal would cause a sharp rise in prices and inflation.

The Commission argues that the legislation is based on an incorrect calculation of operating costs, forcing chains to sell goods at a loss. It also argues the measure is discriminatory, as the specified turnover threshold affects almost exclusively large foreign retailers while exempting smaller domestic retailers from the requirement.

Mihaly Varga, governor of the Hungarian central bank, has also called for the regulation to be repealed.

The move deepens the long-standing conflict between Brussels and Hungary. The country is already facing legal action over a special retail tax, which has been strongly protested by, for example, the Austrian chain Spar. Last month, the German chain Penny Market successfully overturned an earlier Hungarian decree from 2023 on mandatory discounts before the CJEU, marking a significant legal victory for multinational retailers.

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