EU court rules cross-border advertising by online pharmacies legal

Pharmacies in the European Union (EU) are allowed to target customers in other member states with online advertisements for over-the-counter drugs, the European Court of Justice has ruled.

In its ruling, the court said online pharmacy businesses cannot be banned by the country where the target market lives from using paid links or comparison shopping sites geared towards those customers.

Such a ban could constitute a restriction on the freedom of goods and services in the EU internal market, the court ruled on Thursday - unless it could be proven that a ban would achieve general welfare goals such as the better distribution of established pharmacies.

The case centres around a Dutch online pharmacy that specifically targets customers in France. Additional advertising brochures were included with the delivered packages, which the French considered to be unfair competition. The French side also raised the issue that a mandatory health questionnaire did not have to be filled out by the Dutch company before customers could place their orders.

Online discounts

The EU's highest court also pointed out that online discounts on non-prescription drugs could only be prohibited with sufficient justification; the French side had taken action against a discount applied by the Dutch company for orders above a certain amount.

Internet pharmacy companies' sales strategies have been causing controversy in the EU for a while.

A Dutch mail order pharmacy last year spoke out against the German government's plans to protect established pharmacies against online competition. Its plans for pharmaceutical vending machines were also stopped, with Germany's top court not allowing an appeal on the ban.