We can all pay the lowest price by Adam Barak
Pricing policy in Europe: of cars, football and prescription drugs
By Adam Barak
European businesses and consumers are increasingly aware of an emerging seismic shift in the way that goods and services are supplied in their respective countries, controlling both price and product availability, on everything from cars to televised sports to pharmaceuticals. In the ultimate irony, this sea change is being brought about by European Commission laws intended to protect the free market but the impact is increasingly one of limiting choice and restricting market opportunities.
Back in the 1980s, consumers started to become increasingly aware that cars were more expensive in some countries than in others. For UK consumers, the price differentials led to potential savings of around 35% or more on the purchase price, leading some UK consumers to buy their cars across the Channel. Manufacturers were not happy, unsurprisingly, given that they set their prices in different markets based on an assessment of consumer willingness to pay and the price of alternative (nationally‐sourced) products, not the price that may be considered suitable in a different country.