Omnibus Directive price reductions: the rules country by country

The Omnibus Directive (EU) 2019/2161 added one rule for price reductions to every EU country, but let each country choose how to treat perishable goods, new products and progressive reductions. Here is what seven national laws say, read in the official texts on 12 October 2026, and why the UK is different.

By Adam Hale · updated 2026-10-12

Guides in the national languages, with worked examples for each country: Deutschland · Österreich · Nederland · Polska · Italia · España · France.

The EU baseline

Every EU country must require the prior price to be “the lowest price applied by the trader during a period of time not shorter than 30 days prior to the application of the price reduction” (Article 6a(2)). Three options let countries deviate (paragraphs 3 to 5): different rules for “goods which are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly”, a shorter period for products “on the market for less than 30 days”, and keeping the first prior price “when the price reduction is progressively increased”. The Commission's guidance explains the limits of each option: the new-products option cannot become a full exemption, and seasonal clothing is not perishable (guidance, section 4).

Comparison

Other EU and EEA countries: the checker applies the EU baseline and says that national options were not verified.

France

Article L112-1-1 of the Code de la consommation was created by Ordonnance n° 2021-1734 of 22 December 2021 and applies since 28 May 2022 (Légifrance). Paragraph I: “Toute annonce d'une réduction de prix indique le prix antérieur pratiqué par le professionnel avant l'application de la réduction de prix. Ce prix antérieur correspond au prix le plus bas pratiqué par le professionnel à l'égard de tous les consommateurs au cours des trente derniers jours précédant l'application de la réduction de prix.” France used two of the three options:

• Successive reductions: “en cas de réductions de prix successives pendant une période déterminée, le prix antérieur est celui pratiqué avant l'application de la première réduction de prix” (for successive reductions during a set period, the prior price is the one applied before the first reduction). The French wording does not say “without interruption”; the checker applies it only to uninterrupted, deepening steps, the narrow reading the Commission requires (guidance, section 4.3), so a Singles' Day price that ended before Black Friday still counts.
• Perishables: paragraph I “ne s'applique pas aux annonces de réduction de prix portant sur des produits périssables menacés d'une altération rapide” (does not apply to reductions on perishable products threatened with rapid deterioration).
• New products: no shorter period, so a product on sale for less than 30 days has no lawful 30-day prior price yet.

Paragraph II excludes price comparisons with other traders. The DGCCRF's guidance repeats the 30-day rule, says it applies online and in shops, and says the DGCCRF checks it during national campaigns, “soldes, « Black Friday »” (DGCCRF, 5 August 2022).

Germany

§ 11(1) PAngV requires anyone obliged to state a total price to show “den niedrigsten Gesamtpreis …, den er innerhalb der letzten 30 Tage vor der Anwendung der Preisermäßigung gegenüber Verbrauchern angewendet hat” (the lowest total price applied to consumers in the last 30 days before the reduction). Germany did not use the new-products option, so a product on sale for two weeks has no lawful 30-day prior price yet. The checker marks such rows as incomplete rather than inventing a shorter period.

Austria

§ 9a PrAG applies to reductions announced “in Beträgen oder in Prozenten” (in amounts or percentages) and ties the prior price to the same sales channel. Unlike Germany, Austria makes the progressive-reduction rule and the new-products rule part of the law rather than an option for the trader.

Netherlands

Article 5a of the Besluit prijsaanduiding producten took effect on 1 January 2023. Its progressive-reduction option is limited to three calendar months from the start of the first reduction. The perishable option covers only the categories listed in the ministerial regulation, so a discounted bottle of wine does not qualify while fresh flowers do.

Poland

Article 4 of the act on informing about prices of goods and services goes further than the Directive by covering services. For goods that spoil quickly or have a short shelf life, the price “sprzed pierwszego zastosowania obniżki” (from before the first reduction) is shown and the 30-day period does not apply. There is no progressive-reduction option, which matters for “every day a bigger discount” campaigns.

Italy

Article 17-bis of the Consumer Code defines the prior price as the lowest price applied “alla generalità dei consumatori” (to consumers in general) in the 30 preceding days. Below-cost sales are excluded and their prices are ignored when finding the prior price, which the checker cannot detect on its own; remove such rows from the history before checking.

Spain

Article 20 of the Retail Trade Act requires the prior price “en cada uno de ellos” (on each article) next to the reduced price, except for articles put on sale for the first time. Prices applied to reduce food waste on products close to their expiry or best-before date do not count when finding the prior price.

United Kingdom: no fixed period

Great Britain did not keep an equivalent of Article 6a. Since 6 April 2025, the unfair commercial practices provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 apply: a practice can be a misleading action if it deceives about “the price or the manner in which the price is calculated” or “the existence of a specific price advantage” (DMCC Act 2024, s. 226). The CMA's guidance on the Act (CMA207) sets no numeric period.

The CMA's 2023 open letter on price reduction claims, written under the earlier regulations, says: “The higher price in a price reduction claim must be a genuine and realistic selling price – and a business should be able to demonstrate this.” Its examples treat as likely misleading a higher price charged only briefly compared with the promotional price, a higher price at which very few items sold, and prices that flip-flop between two levels (CMA, 29 March 2023). The Price Marking Order changes in force from 6 April 2026 deal with how general reductions are displayed, not with the reference period (S.I. 2024/1055).

The checker's UK mode therefore reports, for the 90 days before the sale: the lowest and highest price, the number of price changes, the days at or above your “was” price and the days below it. It gives no pass or fail verdict. Northern Ireland is not modelled.