France in breach of free trade regulation
France has been found to be in breach of its EU legislative commitments on free trade by failing to legalise sufficiently the parallel trade in pharmaceutical products, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.
France has been found to be in breach of its EU legislative commitments on free trade by failing to legalise sufficiently the parallel trade in pharmaceutical products, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.
Judges found that France had recognised in 1999 it had breached EU regulation 2309/93, which liberalises the pan-EU trade in medicines, but had been too slow to respond to pressure for change from the European Commission.
By January 2002, plans to reform France's civil code on public health had still not been approved, sparking this case, which led in October to the ECJ censuring the French government, ordering it to pay the court's costs.