The EU Court of Justice has just ruled in favor of FødevareDanmark, stating that it was anti-competitive and therefore illegal when the Danish government back in 2013 granted wastewater discounts to industrial slaughterhouses. Furthermore, the court states that EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager was disqualified when the EU Commission initially rejected FødevareDanmark’s complaint.
It was illegal state aid when the then S-SF-R government, as part of its 2013 growth plan, decided to grant a 60 percent discount on the price of most of the wastewater discharged by industry – including the large industrial slaughterhouses.
The EU Court of Justice has just ruled in favor of Danske Slagtermestre, which has been represented by FødevareDanmark, in a case that the food organization has brought on behalf of its members of smaller Danish butcher shops, slaughterhouses, wholesalers and processing companies.
The smaller companies, which FødevareDanmark represents, did not receive the same wastewater discount as their large competitors, despite the fact that it requires just as much water to slaughter pig number ten as pig number one million. Thus, the growth plan was illegal state aid, the EU Court of Justice states in its decision.
For 10 years, we have fought our way through the legal system to gain support for something that we and our lawyer Hans Sønderby have been able to ascertain was clearly illegal and unfair. For 10 years, our members have fought an unequal battle with their large competitors, who have gained an illegitimate competitive advantage. With the EU Court of Justice’s decision, we are finally experiencing some form of understanding for our situation, says Leif Wilson Laustsen
Read the entire article on Effektivt Landbrug’s website, or download the article here.