Jourová: Fico not fully informed on all EC’s activities on double standards

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet with Fico to discuss double quality standards of foods on July 27 in Brussels.

European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová (Source: Sme)

The Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, is apparently not fully informed about the comprehensive scope of activities that the European Commission carries out in the sphere of double quality standards of foods on the EU market, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová told the TASR newswire on July 20.

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Jourová spoke in response to Wednesday’s (July 19) statement by Fico, according to whom the problem of double quality standards of foods “has grown into an international scandal” and measures adopted by the European Commission are inadequate. The European Commissioner took objection to such claims.

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Read also: Fico considers restrictions on EU products Read more 

The commissioner pointed out that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet with Fico to discuss the issue on July 27, in Brussels.

“I only welcome this because the explanation of such things must come also from the top political posts,” she said.

By the end of this year, Jourová would like to prepare a plan that will contain tasks for both the European Commission and EU member states and their national supervisory institutions.

Jourová intends to draft a more specific interpretation of the obligations under the European law for producers and forward it to national trade and food oversight authorities in order to furnish them with guidelines on how to proceed.

The commissioner also pointed out that oversight authorities in national states can already act in a coordinated fashion today, but on behalf of the EU executive, she intends to facilitate these activities to enable them to take action against certain producers and sellers in a cross-border manner.

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Jourová also pledged to hold talks with producers and chain stores, particularly those whose products were confirmed to display double quality standards of goods by testing.

She also took notice of Fico’s statement that Slovakia might implement “one-time measures” to curtail imports of European products to the Slovak market.

“I’ve heard about this proposal, but I don’t know whether it’s feasible enough to be legally compatible with the rules on free movement of goods within the common EU market,” she concluded.

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