Action brought on 13 March 2024 – European Commission v Republic of Poland
(Case C-200/24)
Language of the case: Polish
Parties
Applicant: European Commission (represented by: U. Małecka and M. Mataija, acting as Agents)
Defendant: Republic of Poland
Form of order sought
The applicant claims that the Court should:
declare that, by adopting Article 94a(1) of the Law on Medicines (Prawo Farmaceutyczne), the Republic of Poland failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 8(1) of Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market, 1 and under Article 49 and Article 56 TFEU;
order Poland to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
On 1 January 2012, the Republic of Poland amended the Law on Medicines by adding a new provision, namely Article 94a(1). That provision lays down a prohibition on advertising for pharmacies and pharmaceutical outlets, and their activities.
By its action, the Commission asserts that that prohibition infringes Article 8(1) of Directive 2000/31, since it covers any form of electronic commercial communication, including via a website created by a pharmacist working in a pharmacy or a pharmaceutical outlet. Furthermore, the Commission maintains that that prohibition restricts freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services beyond what is necessary to achieve the objective of public health protection in the Republic of Poland. The prohibition, as it is formulated, in particular, hinders the pursuit of the business of pharmacies in other Member States that wish to provide their services in the Republic of Poland (a restriction of the freedom to provide services) and restricts the freedom of pharmacies to form new economic entities or pursue their business and continue to offer their services to customers in that country (a restriction of the freedom of establishment).
The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the Republic of Poland on 25 January 2019 and a reasoned opinion on 3 July 2020. On the date on which the present action was lodged, the Republic of Poland had not put an end to the failure to fulfil obligations complained of by the Commission.
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1 OJ 2000 L 178, p. 1.