EC hits out at French pharmacy rules

The European Commission has launched a formal procedure against the French government over its regulation of the pharmacy sector, which Brussels says is out of step with European Union market rules.

The Commission has written a warning letter to the authorities in Paris as a first step in the process, giving the government two months to respond. The objection is to the constraints on pharmacy ownership imposed on the country's 23,000 pharmacies. The owner of a pharmacy under French law is not allowed to own more than one pharmacy and has to be a qualified pharmacist rather than a businessman or entrepreneur.

These rules are strongly defended in France by the pharmacy organizations but generally prevent the formation of pharmacy chains. However, the current position in the tussle between Paris and Brussels is that France has succeeded, so far, in convincing the European Commission that the rules do enable pharmacies to be established all over the country, including the heavily rural areas, rather than be concentrated in areas of higher population density.