The nationalization is not prohibited and is not a taboo topic in European legislation, according to Levica as a comment and proposal regarding the current situation in which most bakers have decided not to produce bread due to the limitation of the price to 33 denars.
In times of crisis, when key industry sectors are unable to carry out their activity on the market and achieve satisfactory profits, nationalization is a solution that is increasingly practiced in the European Union. Contrary to the neoliberal narrative that nationalization goes against the EU agreements supporting market liberalization, Article 345 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union clearly states that “the Treaties shall in no way prejudice the rules in Member States governing the system of property ownership.”
The last 15 years have shown that during crises, countries such as Germany and Spain have been prepared to nationalize banks, with 25% of the German Commercial Bank (2009) and 45% of the Spanish Bankia (2012) being under state ownership. The crisis during the pandemic has further prompted state participation in private companies, with Germany acquiring ownership shares in Lufthansa (2020) and TUI AG (2021), Finland in Finnair (2021), Latvia in AirBaltic (2020), and Denmark and Sweden in SAS (2020).
The problem with the large bakers and the newly arisen situation of refusing to sell bread at a regulated price may be resolved through partial or complete nationalization in line with the EU spirit. If this key sector continues not to deliver bread to the citizens, the government must consider this solution and not treat it as a taboo topic.
The claims of the bakery industry that they cannot lower their prices are unsustainable. This industry has been privileged for months and pays subsidized electricity. Furthermore, wheat purchase in 2021 took place at a miserable price of 8.5 denars, and in 2022 the government allowed bakers to buy cheap wheat from Serbia. High prices are evidently an indulgence of business oligarchy, which puts their interest above the collective good.
The current regulation of the price of bread is not a perfect solution due to its class agnosticism – it can’t differentiate between the middle class (small bakers) and the upper class (large bakers). However, regulation is a step forward towards protecting citizens and their standards. Therefore, one should not yield to the blackmail of the bakery industry, but reward regulation and possibly problematize the ownership structure of these enterprises.
Levica, in the spirit of its authentic leftist ideology, firmly stands on the side of workers and the poor, who are most affected by high bread prices, and against large bakers who left the people without bread, according to Levica.
