EU leaders demand urgent action on territorial supply constraint

Eurocommerce comments on European council conclusions 

Today’s European Council send an unequivocal message: European leaders want urgent action to remove the barriers holding back the Single Market, explicitly including territorial supply constraints. These practices fragment Europe’s market, limit retailers and wholesalers’ freedom to source products across borders and ultimately restrict choice and raise costs for consumers. The political mandate is now clear.  

President von der Leyen reinforced that mandate by placing action against unjustified territorial supply constraints prominently among the competitiveness initiatives in her 2026 Letter of Intent to the European Parliament and the Irish Presidency.  

The Commission must now act without delay and propose legislation. Six competition authorities have backed up the call for legislation in July this year. Voluntary approaches cannot deliver an enforceable ban on territorial supply constraints. Attempts to punish the behaviour retroactively has had little effect as fragmentation continues despite high fines (see AB InBev and Mondelez). The legal gap needs to be closed and the European Commission must ensure that the Single Market works without artificial barriers imposed by powerful companies, so businesses, workers and consumers alike can benefit.