European Court rules against Sweden and France

Published: 1-Aug-2005


The European Court of Justice's (ECJ) ruling that the Swedish government illegally impeded the import of pharmaceuticals from other EU member states has triggered a review of the country's state monopoly system for the retail sale of medicine.

A state-run company, Apoteket, has controlled all sales of medicine since 1970, and is free to source its medicines arbitrarily. Even though there is no rule that it must buy Swedish, the court has ruled that its purchasing policy must 'be adjusted to ensure no discrimination exists between member states'. This will probably involve a transparent purchasing plan or a tendering system allowing producers overlooked by Apoteket to challenge a refusal to buy their medicines.

The ECJ has also declared France's insistence on a prior authorisation procedure for imported homeopathic medicines that are lawfully sold in other EU member states to be an illegal restriction of trade.

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