EU court strikes down Poland's pharmacy advertising ban

Euractiv

a day ago

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has delivered a landmark judgment, ruling that Poland's longstanding ban on pharmacy advertising violates EU law.
The case, brought by the European Commission, challenged Polish regulations that have, since 2012, prohibited pharmacies and pharmacy outlets from advertising their services under threat of financial penalties. Under these rules, pharmacies could only publicly share information about their location and opening hours.
'This judgment confirms what we have argued for years - the advertising ban is incompatible with EU law,' said Marcin Piskorski, President of the Pharmacy Employers' Association PharmaNET. 'The Polish ban was absolute; it prohibited any communication between pharmacies and patients, which is socially harmful.' Consequences of bad law
The origins of the case date back to 2013, when the Confederation Lewiatan filed a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the advertising ban stifled the potential of Polish pharmacists and limited patient access to vital information.
In 2019, the Commission issued a formal notice to Poland, followed by a reasoned opinion in 2020, and ultimately referred the case to the CJEU.
'Poland is unique in Europe. In other EU countries, pharmacy services and programmes are promoted and communication between patients and pharmacists is encouraged as a social good,' noted Kacper Olejniczak, Director of Health Protection and Life Sciences at Confederation Lewiatan.
Nevertheless, the ban remained in place.
Recognising that the restriction was incompatible with EU law, the European Commission brought a case against Poland before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
'Pharmacy owners were fined for absurd reasons, such as posting signs about card payments, or, during the pandemic, informing patients that vaccinations were available in pharmacies,' Piskorski told Euractiv.
The ban also prevented pharmacies from participating in social programmes, such as the government's Large Family Card, which offers discounts to families with multiple children. The Court's reasoning
The CJEU upheld the Commission's complaint in full, finding that Poland had failed to meet its obligations under EU law.
The Court stated that the EU's e-commerce directive permits regulated professionals, including pharmacists, to use online commercial communications to promote their activities. While such communications must comply with professional standards, these rules cannot result in a blanket ban on all advertising, as was the case in Poland.
The Court further emphasised that the ban infringed on the freedom to provide services and the freedom of establishment, particularly for pharmacists from other EU member states seeking to enter the Polish market.
The ruling noted that Poland had not demonstrated that such sweeping restrictions were justified by public health concerns, such as combating excessive medicine consumption or preserving pharmacists' professional independence.
Piskorski welcomed the ruling, but noted, 'It's a pity that for ten years Polish lawmakers refused to address these arguments - we had to fight this battle in European institutions.' What happens next
The CJEU has made it clear that Poland must promptly amend its legislation to comply with the ruling. Should the European Commission determine that Poland fails to implement the judgment, it may bring a new case and seek financial penalties.
For entrepreneurs, this means that proceedings pending before the pharmaceutical inspectorate for alleged violations of the ban will have to be discontinued.
Where the case is already before the court, decisions revoking the penalties should be issued. Polish courts have already responded, and in recent days, the first ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court, dismissing a case concerning the ban in question, has been issued.
[Edited by Vasiliki Angouridi, Brian Maguire]