The European Food Prices Monitoring Tool as a Prerequisite for more Price Transparency in the Food Chain

Abstract

During the last decades, the variable agricultural commodity prices and the increasing producer and consumer prices illustrated the need for more transparency about the pricing of food products in the European food system. Therefore, the European Commission launched in 2009 a public tool, the European Food Prices Monitoring Tool (EFPMT), to compare prices to increase transparency for price transmission in the food chain and to facilitate comparisons across the European member states. The main purpose of this paper is to examine how the EFPMT can contribute to a fair competition and increase the price transparency and competitiveness in the European food system.