GREECE/FRANCE: GREEK CONSUMERS BOYCOTT STORES IN PROTEST AGAINST EURO-RELATED PRICE HIKES.
Record ID:
648605
GREECE/FRANCE: GREEK CONSUMERS BOYCOTT STORES IN PROTEST AGAINST EURO-RELATED PRICE HIKES.
- Title: GREECE/FRANCE: GREEK CONSUMERS BOYCOTT STORES IN PROTEST AGAINST EURO-RELATED PRICE HIKES.
- Date: 4th September 2002
- Summary: (W5) ATHENS, GREECE (SEPTEMBER 3, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/MV: LOCAL ATHENS FRUIT MARKET; FRUIT STALL VENDOR WAITING FOR CUSTOMERS; PRICES OF FRUITS IN EUROS AT STALLS; VARIOUS FOOD STALL VENDORS WAITING FOR CUSTOMERS (6 SHOTS) 0.30 2. MCU: (SOUNDBITE)(Greek) ELDERLY CONSUMER DIMITRIS XIOTIS, PARTICIPATING IN THE BOYCOTT SAYING: "Prices are now twice and three times higher than usual. Something has got to be done this is unacceptable, it has to be brought under control because the consumer just can't handle it anymore. Money is slipping through our fingers and we don't know where it is going." 0.45 3. GV: MAIN STREET OF ATHENS CENTRAL SHOPPING DISTRICT; STORE WINDOW (2 SHOTS) 0.57 4. GV: SHOP ASSISTANTS IN EMPTY CLOTHES STORE 1.03 5. GV/CU: EMPTY COSMETICS SHOP (3 SHOTS) 1.18 6. GV/MV/CU: CAR WITH MEGAPHONE DRIVING THROUGH SHOPPING DISTRICT, MAN SHOUTING FOR PASSERS-BY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SHOPPING BOYCOTT; WOMAN HANDING OUT PAMPHLETS WHICH CALL PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SHOPPING BOYCOTT (4 SHOTS) 1.36 (W5) ATHENS, GREECE (SEPTEMBER 2, 2002)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 7. MV/CU: INSPECTORS FROM THE FINANCIAL CRIMES UNIT CONDUCTING INSPECTIONS IN THE MARKET TO CHECK FOR RAISED PRICES AND PRICE VIOLATORS (5 SHOTS) 2.02 (W5) ZAKYNTHOS ISLAND, GREECE (FILE - AUGUST ,2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8. GV/MV: VARIOUS OF TOURISTS SUNTANNING ON BEACHES (3 SHOTS) 2.17 (W6) (FILE) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 9. GRAPHIC SHOWING 100 PERCENT INCREASE IN CLOTHING AND SHOES PRICES IN ITALY; 100 PERCENT INCREASE IN BREAD, CLEANING MATERIALS AND RESTAURANT PRICES IN GERMANY; AVERAGE PRICE INCREASES OF TEN PERCENT IN FRANCE 2.37 (W6) PARIS, FRANCE (3 SEPTEMBER 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 10. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (French) MARIE-JOSE NICOLI, PRESIDENT OF UFC, SAYING: "Between March and June 2002, the increase has been around 5 percent. And if you take into account the increases that had already taken place from June or July 2001, the increase rate is around 7 or 8 percent, and by the end of the year, if we take inflation into account, the increase in prices for some well-established products will reach around 10 percent in two years." 3.17 11. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (French) MARIE-JOSE NICOLI, PRESIDENT OF UFC, SAYING: "Consumer associations in Greece do not have the same weight as similar organizations have in other member states like Germany or France, so I think (the boycott) is a spectacular way of making themselves heard. I hope people will support it." 3.36 12. GV/MV/CU: PEOPLE SHOPPING AT BHV (VARIOUS); PRODUCTS WITH PRICES; PEOPLE SHOPPING; CASHIER'S HANDS HANDLING EURO NOTES; PRICE TAGS ON PRODUCTS (9 SHOTS) 4.15 13. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED SHOPPER SAYING: "Yes, prices have gone up. I think that prices have slightly gone up when we converted to the euro. But we need the school supplies, so I shop anyway." 4.29 14. MCU/GV: CASHIER CHECKING PRODUCTS AT COUNTER (2 SHOTS) 4.42 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 19th September 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ATHENS, GREECE/ PARIS, FRANCE
- City:
- Country: Greece France
- Reuters ID: LVA1CKR0CHVMLGM6VXJ8B4SOKOFL
- Story Text: Greek consumers stayed away from shops on Tuesday as
part of a nationwide buying boycott to protest against
ballooning prices since the introduction of the euro currency.
Consumers in France say prices have gone up since the
currency was changed from the franc to the euro, and experts
predict that the upward trend is not yet over.
Greeks stayed away from shops on Tuesday (September 3)
after a Greek consumers organization called on the public not
to spend a single euro as part of a boycott against inflated
prices by sellers since the introduction of the euro currency.
Since the beginning of the year the Consumers Protection
Institute has received more than 10,000 phone call complaints
from Greek consumers over ballooning prices of goods and
services in the country, including complaints by thousands of
tourists visiting Greece.
"All these months we gathered more than 10,500 complaints
for the cost of living. In the second position was food
safety, and in third place was tourists complaints - about
6,500 until August - and a percentage of them was for the cost
of living," said Charalambos Kouris, president of the
Institute.
Since the crossover to the euro currency in January 2002,
prices for goods and services have seen an abrupt rise across
the country, with prices being rounded up and causing an
outpouring of angry complaints.
The currency conversion rate of 340.75 drachmas to one
euro has seen prices double according to the old drachma rate.
Bottles of water, which sold for 100 drachma before the
euro, now sell on some tourist islands for as much as one euro
--340.74 drachma.
Kouris said early morning results of the boycott showed
that in the Athens central market districts, full of small
businesses, there was a decrease of sales by as much as 85
percent due to the boycott.
The Consumers Protection Institute also called on the
public to turn off power switches at home and at the office
for several minutes as well abstaining from fixed-line or
mobile telephone calls for two minutes at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday
(September 3) night.
The Greek government has also called on the public to
boycott companies that have unjustifyingly escalated prices.
Finance ministry officials were considering issuing a
black list of companies that had inflated prices.
Price increases threatened the country's already high
inflation rate, currently at around 3.3 percent, which is the
third highest in the euro zone.
Complaints on the streets by consumers were abundant, with
many saying they were participating in the boycott.
Greece's finance ministry sent out special inspection
teams from the Financial Crimes Unit to carry out checks and
find price violators after ministers said price hikes would no
longer be tolerated.
Financial Crimes Unit Inspector George Tomaras, said their
surveys showed prices across the board have increased by about
10 percent since last year.
Higher prices risk damaging the tourist industry and
competitiveness, officials said.
Greece is visited by millions of tourists each year.
The introduction of the euro will have pushed up weekly
shopping bills for the average French household by 10 per cent
by the end of year 2002, according to the country's biggest
consumer association. After one of the largest surveys into
the impact of the single currency on prices, the French
Consumer Union (UFC) alleged that the cost of some fresh goods
had more than doubled.
Shampoo, soap and beauty products had increased by 40 per
cent.
The UFC survey results conflict with official figures from
the National Institute of Statistics and Economic studies
(INSEE). These reported an annual inflation rate of 1.7 per
cent for consumer goods in France last year. Between March and
June this year, INSEE recorded price rises of 0.5 per cent,
while UFC said its tests showed increases of 2.63 per cent in
May and June alone.
Marie-Jones Nicoli, the UFC president, told Reuters
Television: "In the case of a number of products that we have
been following for 10 years, there was an increase in prices
before the passage to the euro, during what we call the
'anticipation period'. Then there was a six months moratorium
during which prices could not be increased. And now, since
March, prices have started going up again. During May and
June, by looking at the prices of some products, we have
proved that rises have taken place. And the trend will
continue until the end of the year."
A moratorium on rises was signed by France's major
distributors and retailers before the euro was introduced.
They agreed to freeze prices between November 2000 and the end
of March 2001, precisely to allay consumer fears of euro
profiteering. But after noting the prices of 55,000 items in
1,040 major retailers over the past two years, UFC discovered
that retailers had, nonetheless, used the introduction of the
euro to increase prices well above the rate of inflation.
UFC, France's most respected consumer association, has
monitored the real impact of inflation on shopper's wallets
for decades.
It uses a basket of 50 products which are available
nationally in France, including food, make-up and pet food.
The cost of its shopping basket rose from an equivalent of
124.83 euros to 133.32 euros between November 2000 and June
2002, an increase five percentage points above the annual rate
of inflation.
On the first day of school, however, shoppers in Paris did
not let themselves be deterred by the price hikes and flocked
to the stores to purchase the school supplies requested by the
teachers.
cah/
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