High food prices are a concern for all European governments, with retailers and consumer goods groups trading blame. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has imposed mandatory price cuts on some basic food items. And in Portugal, the government announced in March a package to help low-income families, including scrapping the value added tax on essential food products. French retailers have called for more regular price negotiations with consumer goods companies to reflect changes in the price of raw materials. This year those negotiations led to a 10% increase on the price of products on supermarket shelves.

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Persons: Eric Gaillard, Bruno Le Maire, Mousquetaires, Thierry Cotillard, It's, Carrefour Alexandre Bompard, Viktor Orban, Le Maire, Dominique Vidalon, Helen Reid, Silvia Aloisi, Ingrid Melander, Bernadette Baum, David Evans, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, French Finance, Federation du Commerce, RTL, Carrefour, FDC, Thomson Locations: Nice, France, Italy, Hungary, Portugal, Paris, London