The decision is a setback for pharmacy retailers and some major supermarket chains seeking to expand into pharmacy. Limitations on who can run pharmacies are in place in a number of large European countries, including Germany, Italy, France and Spain.
The European Court of Justice yesterday (19 May) decided that governments can impose such limitations in certain circumstances without breaching Community law, although excluding non-pharmacists from investing in pharmacy firms "constitutes a restriction on the freedom of establishment and the free movement of capital".
"That restriction can nevertheless be justified by the objective of ensuring that the provision of medicinal products to the public is reliable and of good quality," the ECJ said in a statement.
It said public health risk and a potential threat to the reliability and quality of the provision of medicinal products to the public can justify measures which would otherwise be unacceptable.
"In this context, the Court draws attention to the very particular nature of medicinal products, whose therapeutic effects distinguish them substantially from other goods," said the Court.
The secretary-general of the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union, Mr John Chave, said it was regrettable that the European Commission had "shown little understanding" of member states' rights to regulate their own healthcare sectors.
"The PGEU has always believed that decisions about the organisation of health systems should take place at national level. We are glad to see that in essence, the Court agrees," he said.
Chave added that pharmacists will be happy to put the case behind them and focus on how pharmacists can contribute even more to health systems.
Celesio, a German pharmacy retail group directly affected by the restriction, said the ruling provided clarity and would enable it to plan for the future. The group, whose stock fell 13% in the wake of the decision, said it would now focus on expanding its brand partner business and mail-order activities.
