Recent links between Europe 's largest grocers are being investigated by France 's antitrust regulator , the Autorité de la Concurrence , to decide whether they threaten competition targets . Tie - ups being probed are between France ’s Auchan , plc , Germany ’s supermarket and France ’s Schiever on the one hand , and another between Carrefour and Systeme U , which has been widened to reflect the Tesco - Carrefour tie - up . European food retailers are increasingly under pressure from the expansion of discount stores such as retailers and e - commerce groups like plc , leading many large supermarkets to join forces in an effort to cut costs and protect margins .
Recent alliances between Europe's largest grocers are being investigated by France's antitrust authority, the Autorité de la Concurrence, to decide whether they threaten competition rules. Tie-ups being probed are between France’s Auchan, Casino, Germany’s Metro and France’s Schiever on the one hand, and another between Carrefour and Systeme U, which has been widened to include the Tesco-Carrefour tie-up. European food retailers are increasingly under pressure from the expansion of discount stores such as Aldi and e-commerce groups like Amazon, leading many large supermarkets to join forces in an effort to cut costs and protect margins.