The Czech parliament has decided that all large supermarkets must display more national food products on their shelves. Within two years, more than half must consist of Czech products, and within six years, three-quarters.
The new regulation applies to all food products that are also produced in the Czech Republic; this concerns approximately 120 of the current over 15,000 products offered. Czech Minister of Agriculture Miroslav Toman said that citizens may be a "bit nationalist" when shopping, and that they should especially eat regional products. He criticized that many Czechs put German milk in their coffee instead of Czech milk.
The Czech opposition describes the measure as completely absurd because, in practice, it amounts to restricting imports and making food more expensive. This will almost certainly put the government in Prague in conflict with the European Union, which prohibits distortion of competition. Germany, France, Italy, and Poland are said to have already announced in a letter that they consider the proposed law discriminatory against foreign producers.
A spokesperson for the European Commission admitted that the promotion of regional food production is generally allowed. However, this may not be at the expense of other EU countries. Protectionist measures and discrimination against products from EU partner countries must be avoided.
One of the largest food producers in the Czech Republic is Agrofert, a conglomerate of agricultural, chemical, food processing, and media companies that was owned by Prime Minister Andrej Babis until he placed the company in trusts three years ago.
The EU has established that the Prime Minister nevertheless retains indirect control over the concern. Prime Minister Babis was not present at the January 20 vote and told news agency Reuters that he opposed the legislation.
The Czech bill aligns with efforts by some other EU countries to give their domestic products a competitive advantage, for example through a national label of origin. However, the European Court of Justice only last October issued a landmark ruling interpreting the requirements for a national designation of origin strictly.