The EU is failing to create a single market in which retailers can thrive, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The BRC is hosting a debate at the UK Conservative Party's annual conference in which it will make the point that by 'churning out costly legislation' the EU is not conferring the advantages of a cross-border single market to retailers.
The UK attracts more retail investment than any other EU market and the BRC believes this is to the benefit of UK consumers, giving them 'Europe's most competitive retail sector'.
Among various examples of what it sees as the EU's anti-competitive problems, the BRC mentions that some international food producers only sell to retailers via suppliers in the same country, thereby denying the retailers the opportunity to buy the same produce at lower prices from elsewhere.
Stephen Robertson, the BRC's director general, said: 'The UK shows the clear economic and customer benefits that come from a genuinely open market. Too many other EU countries just don't get that.'
