The leftist-rightist coalition government appears set to finally liberalize the pharmacy sector in Greece, as the relevant health ministry is resubmitting an almost identical joint ministerial decision, dating to early 2016, that opens up the sector to entrepreneurs that are not pharmacists, and possibly retailers.
The only difference in the current amendment – tacked on as a rider to an unrelated justice ministry draft bill – is a condition that a presidential decree must be issued instead of a joint ministerial decision. A presidential decree is, in itself, a more-or-less administrative formality.
The latter will again define the criteria for the opening of pharmacies Greece, with such criteria taking into consideration a recent Council of State decision on the matter.
The Cos, Greece’s highest administrative court, had previously thrown out the original joint ministerial decision that barred anyone but licensed pharmacists from opening pharmacies.
However, the CoS ruling merely stated that issues dealing with the exercise of a profession and the operation of a pharmacy are regulated by either a law passed in Parliament or by a presidential decree, but not a ministerial decision.
Opening up Greece’s tightly controlled and regulated pharmacy sector has long been a demand by the country’s institutional creditors, as well as a repeated and high-profile recommendation by intergovernmental organizations, such as the OECD.
It’s creditors’ pressure, within the recent negotiations to conclude the third review of ongoing bailout, that reportedly caused the health ministry to re-table a new draft amendment liberalizing the pharmacy ownership sector.
