The CNMC now rejects Calviño and rules out sanctioning supermarkets for VAT: "We do not have any competition"

The first vice president of the acting Government, Nadia Calviño, assured at the end of December of last year, in the days prior to the entry into force of the VAT reduction on food, that the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC ) would be the body in charge of monitoring that distribution companies transfer the tax discount to the final prices and, otherwise, would impose sanctions. However, the CNMC now rejects the person responsible for Economic Affairs and assures that it lacks the powers to fine violating companies.

In a resolution to which EL MUNDO has had access, Competition indicates that the Royal Decree-Law by which the VAT reduction was approved “does not confer on the CNMC any power to sanction a possible non-compliance with the provisions of its article 72”. Specifically, this article establishes that “the reduction in the tax rate will fully benefit the consumer, without, therefore, the amount of the reduction being able to be totally or partially dedicated to increasing the business profit margin with the consequent increase in prices in the chain of production, distribution or consumption of products”.

The article also determines that the effectiveness of the measure “will be verified through a system for monitoring the evolution of prices, regardless of the actions that correspond to the National Markets and Competition Commission within the scope of its competencies”. But, in response to the statement made by Calviño on December 28, 2022, the CNMC assures in its letter, dated September 1, 2023, that it does not have powers to sanction possible non-compliance..

Competition thus responds to the consumer association Facua, which since the beginning of this year has been denouncing eight of the main distribution chains – Mercadona, Carrefour, Dia, Alcampo, Lidl, Aldi, Hipercor and Eroski – for the increases they have applied in the prices of a high percentage of foods with reduced VAT. The CNMC defends that any investigation on its part must be framed in the provisions of the Law on the Defense of Competition and that Facua's complaints do not point to any possible infringement of those provided for in said law or to conduct that affects competition. which is its scope of action.

In fact, the Government granted a similar role of surveillance and sanction to the body chaired by Cani Fernández on two previous occasions: in the tax on banks and energy companies, to control that companies do not pass it on to customers, and in the bonus of fuel, to ensure the correct application of the 20 cents per liter. But in none of the cases is there evidence of sanctions because, as in the VAT on food, these are matters that fall outside the scope of Competition.

To the Ministry of Garzón

After the CNMC slammed the door on the matter, Facua has directed its complaints to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, considering that Alberto Garzón does have the powers to sanction non-compliant companies because they are granted them by the General Law for the Defense of Consumers in its article 47, which defines an infringement as “non-compliance with price regulations (…) or any other type of illegal intervention or action that results in an increase in prices or commercial margins”.

In the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, however, they assure that “price competition was acquired by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with the Food Chain Observatory”, a forum in which the different links are represented.. However, in the MAPA they defend that it is “a tax issue” and refer it to the Treasury.. “Economy and Competition drive it,” they say in the department headed by María Jesús Montero.

But, when consulted about the CNMC's letter in which it claims to lack the powers that Calviño attributed to it in its statements, the Ministry of Economic Affairs refers to the report published on July 25 in which Competition confirms that supermarkets yes they are transferring the VAT reduction to the prices. So, at this time, no ministerial department assumes sanctioning competence.

Prices skyrocket

The only person in charge of the Government who has spoken out on the matter has been the Minister of Social Rights, Ione Belarra, who in a message spread through the social network “The Government must act immediately on the price of food, especially olive oil, and if necessary through sanctions”. “We cannot allow speculation with basic food,” he concluded.

The latest monthly analysis by Facua, which is monitoring the evolution of almost a thousand foods affected by the VAT reduction in eight large distribution chains, reflects that nearly half of the products analyzed (48.4%) have increased in price compared to what they marked on December 30 once the tax discount was applied. According to this study, fruits and vegetables lead the increases.

In parallel, the association has focused on olive oil and has asked the Government to “thoroughly investigate the price escalation that is occurring in the sector and apply caps to profit margins in all phases of the chain.” “, since, in his opinion, “the increases are not only a consequence of poor olive harvests, but also of speculation.”