FRANCE FACES ECJ ACTION OVER CIGARETTE PRICING
March 1st, 2007
BY KEITH NUTHALLFRANCE'S minimum retail price system for cigarettes is to be challenged as illegal under European Union (EU) free trading laws by the European Commission. It is taking the French government to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the issue, claiming that the system "distorts competition and benefits only manufacturers, by safeguarding their profit margins." The decision to go to court follows a decision by the Belgian government to scrap a similar system for its own country, following legal pressure from the Commission. Expanding its case, in ...
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