The decision said opening a retail structure larger than 1000 square meters requires authorization from a committee made up of local authorities, professional associations, consumer protection authorities and one representative of the economic agents in the vicinity.
Applications for the opening of such a store also had to include “a market and impact study,” comprising the reason why that particular site had been chosen for the store, a commercial plan of the area, a typological description of the stores in the area, its demographic and social characteristics (population structure, income, consumption habits), the impact of opening a new store from an urban planning, socio-economic and commercial perspective, as well as its impact on existing trade, to protect existing sale structures and prevent competition problems.
Attorneys contacted by MEDIAFAX explained that opening a supermarket or hypermarket near a wholesale or cash-and-carry store required authorization from that store, appearing to protect existing stores, despite community rules on competition.
Under pressure from the Commission and the IMF, the Government had pledged last spring to remove these obstacles by September 2011, but failed to do so and received a new deadline – January 2012. In spring this year, the Government incorrectly informed the IMF that it had fulfilled the obligation, but the letter of intent where this was set down was approved by the Fund’s board.