Duitsland gedaagd voor EU-Hof inzake handelsbeperkingen van medische knoflook-preparaten (en)

The European Commission has decided to refer Germany to the European Court of Justice, firstly for consistently treating garlic preparations as medicines and secondly over its requirement that hospitals can only be supplied with medicines by pharmacies in the same city or district.

"These are clear cut cases where national overregulation creates unnecessary burdens for business and hence hampers economic growth in the EU", Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for Enterprise, Industry and the Free Movement of Goods said.

Germany - Garlic preparations

Germany will be taken to the Court of Justice for consistently treating garlic preparations, such as capsules containing pure dried garlic powder, as medicines, even though they are lawfully marketed as foodstuffs in another Member State. In the Commission's view, the German practice constitutes a disproportionate and unnecessary obstacle to the free movement of goods and is therefore prohibited under Articles 28 and 30 of the EC Treaty. In addition, the German position seems to demonstrate an insufficient understanding of the borderline between food supplements and medicinal products in the sense of current European legislation.

Germany - Pharmacies supplying hospitals

Germany will also be taken to the Court for prescribing that hospitals can only be supplied with medicines by pharmacies in the same or neighbouring districts. The Commission considers this requirement to be an unjustified obstacle to trade in goods, as German hospitals cannot purchase medicines from pharmacies in other Member States.

Although, in the autumn of 2004, the German government tabled a legislative proposal in order to remove the obstacle, this proposal has not yet received the necessary approval of the second legislative chamber ("Bundesrat"). In these circumstances, the Commission will refer the matter to the Court, while continuing the dialogue with the German authorities.

The free movement of goods is one of the fundamental principles of the Internal Market. European Community law (Articles 28-30 of the EC Treaty) and requires Member States to abstain from imposing restrictions on imports into or exports from other Member States unless there are legitimate public policy reasons for doing so (such as public health and safety). Even where such reasons exist, any restriction must be necessary and proportionate to the objective pursued.

Where national rules hinder the free movement of goods within the European Union, market operators are deprived of their right to sell a product, competition on national markets is reduced and consumers have less choice and risk having to pay more.