Brussels - Slovakia's prime minister urged the European
Commission on Thursday to act on the perceived difference in quality
between products sold by the same brand in Eastern and Western
Europe.
Slovakia, as well as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, have
long claimed that packaged food and other consumer products such as
washing powder are of inferior quality compared to the same brands
with the same packaging sold in Western Europe.
"How would you react if your washing powder had 20 per cent less
active matter?" Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico asked.
Fico also claimed that processed food was being sold in Slovakia that
contained less pork and more low quality chicken meat leftovers -
despite weighing the same, looking the same and costing the same.
For his part Jean-Claude Junker, the head of the EU Commission
assured Fico that the issue was "unacceptable."
Consumers had the right to the same quality, he said, adding that the
commission would draft new guidelines over the coming weeks to
provide clarification.