Ben Van Rompuy, associate professor of European Competiton Law, appeared on 15 April as an expert before the European Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and also authored a briefing paper with recommendations to effectively address Territorial Supply Constraints (TSCs).
The same everyday branded product - a soft drink, a pack of dishwasher tablets, or a bottle of laundry detergent - can cost noticeably more in the Netherlands than in Belgium or Germany, even though all three countries are part of the EU single market. One possible reason is the use of TSCs: practices by large brand manufacturers that restrict supermarkets and other retailers from buying more cheaply across borders, requiring them to source through national channels instead. This can help maintain artificial price differences between Member States.
In its 2025 Single Market Strategy, the European Commission identified unjustified TSCs among the "Terrible Ten" most harmful remaining barriers to the internal market. The issue has also attracted significant attention in the Netherlands, which has led a coalition of EU Member States calling for EU legislation to tackle them.
In his presentation, Ben Van Rompuy discussed his research findings on whether the current toolbox (EU competition law and national rules on relative market power) provides a sufficient basis for addressing unjustified TSCs. He identified the remaining gaps and drew lessons for the design of any potential EU legislative response.
The presentation was followed by questions and comments by several members of the IMCO Committee. Van Rompuy was joined by two fellow speakers: Dr. Victoria Daskalova (Utrecht University) and Ms. Géraldine Fages of the European Commission (DG GROW).
