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The European pharmacy system is under the microscope at the EU. National courts and the European Commission have called on the European Court of Justice to issue rulings on national pharmacy laws in several cases. In the coming months, EU judges will review the case of Dutch online mail-order pharmacy DocMorris’s entry into the German retail market; other cases from Spain and Italy are also on the docket. In addition, infringement proceedings are underway against Austria, France, and Portugal, as well as Spain and Germany.
Governments throughout Europe are taking steps to defend themselves against the European Commission’s course of action. Among the issues at stake in the battle over pharmacies in Brussels and Luxemburg is the question of whether responsibility for public health is to be determined at the national or European level.
The new Apotheke Adhoc dossier “Showdown in Luxemburg” will be released on 8 April and is based on research performed all over Europe. The dossier provides 28 pages of exclusive and fascinating details on the individual proceedings: interviews, critical analyses of the statements and reports submitted by the various parties and portraits of the key players involved. The dossier answers the questions of who were the people largely behind the initiation of the proceedings in the various countries and what were their aims in doing so.
The last dossier “The Norwegian Case” explored the impacts that liberalization in the health sector would have on patients and the occupational groups involved. With its new dossier ” Showdown in Luxemburg”, the editorial team from Apotheke Adhoc has set a benchmark for intensive journalistic treatment of a complex health and social policy issue.
