Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has tried to put pressure on Belgian-Dutch retail group Ahold Delhaize regarding its wage negotiations in his country, as only the most recent case in a wave of protectionism that sweeps around Central Europe.
Protectionism
Just like in several other Central and Eastern European countries, the Czech government is trying to make sure that foreign companies do not crush local companies competitively. They apply their own form of pressure, this time through the ambassador of the Netherlands, but sometimes also with new laws and rules.
In 2014 the Hungarian government prohibited Sunday openings for major supermarkets, which was considered to be an attempt to protect local companies in their struggle against international chains. However, there was a huge backlash for the new rule and it disappeared almost as quickly as it was created.
Dialed back on some legislation
Several other countries have forced supermarkets to mention how many local products they carried, as Romania even requires 51 % of a supermarket’s products to hail from the country itself. Poland has signed a new tax into law, that mostly targets major international companies.
Through trade organization Eurocommerce, Ahold Delhaize is trying to fight back and the European Commission has already reprimanded several countries for their breaches of the free trade agreement in the European Union. Chances are high that many of these protectionist legislation will not survive for very long.
