The European Commission presented a European Retail Action Plan to avoid a number of barriers that hinder the smooth functioning of cross-border sourcing, consumer access to cross-border retail services and market entry for retailers. At the same time, the Commission launched a public consultation on unfair trading practices in the business-to-business food and non-food supply chain.

The European Retail Action Plan presented by the European Commission intends, according to Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Michel Barnier, to create an efficient and competitive single market in retail remain. This Action Plan sets out a strategy to improve the competitiveness of the retail sector and to enhance the sector’s economic, environmental and social performance. In October 2010, the European retailers expressed their wish to move to a resource efficient economy.

The European Retail Action Plan key priorities are empowering consumers through better information; improving accessibility to retail services by promoting an exchange of good practices between Member States on commercial and spatial planning; fairer and more sustainable trading relationships along the food and non-food supply chain; ensuring a better link between retail and innovation; and creating a better work environment, for example through better matching the needs of employers and staff skills.

The Commission also adopted a Green Paper that has launched a consultation on unfair trading practices in the business-to-business food and non-food supply chain. The contributions to this consultation can be made until 30 of April 2013 and they will help the Commission to assess the magnitude of unfair trading practices and gather evidence on their effect on the economy and on cross-border activity. It will examine the effectiveness of self-regulatory and legislative frameworks put in place to address those practices at national level and will look into the question of whether these divergent approaches may lead to a fragmentation of the Single Market.