Ban on advertising pharmacies is illegal. There is a ruling

• Since 2012, Poland has had a law that prohibits, among other things, advertising pharmacies under penalty of a financial penalty.
• Therefore, pharmacies can only provide limited information about their location and opening hours to the public.
• The European Union has filed a complaint against Poland with the Court of Justice
• The Court upheld the complaint in its entirety and found that Poland had failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law.

As stated in the press release, the Polish law, which came into force in 2012, prohibits, under penalty of a fine, advertising of pharmacies, pharmacy points and their activities. In practice, this means that pharmacies can only publicly provide limited information about their location and opening hours.

Considering this ban to be contrary to EU law, the European Commission brought an action against Poland before the Court of Justice. The Court upheld the action in its entirety and found that Poland had failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law - we read in the Court's press release.

The explanations indicate that the E-commerce Directive allows members of a regulated profession, such as pharmacists in Poland, to use online commercial information to promote their business. At the same time, it was pointed out that although the content and form of such information must comply with specific rules concerning the exercise of the profession, these rules cannot lead to a general and complete ban on all advertising, as is the case in Poland.

The fact that this ban applies only to pharmacists working in pharmacies (i.e. over two thirds of pharmacists in Poland) does not change anything in this respect. The directive allows all pharmacists to advertise independently. Therefore, it cannot be circumvented by prohibitions applying only to certain pharmacists or certain types of activities they conduct - the Court points out.

It was also noted that the ban also infringes the freedom to provide services and the freedom of establishment in relation to forms of advertising not covered by the E-commerce Directive. According to the Court, the ban restricts pharmacists, particularly those established in other Member States, from presenting themselves to potential customers and promoting the services they intend to offer them. Moreover, these difficulties also affect persons who wish to open a pharmacy in Poland, because they have limited access to the market. This applies in particular to cases where these persons operate in other Member States.

Poland has not demonstrated that the restriction of these two fundamental freedoms can be justified by the protection of public health, and in particular by combating the excessive consumption of medicinal products and maintaining the professional independence of pharmacists - it concluded.

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