CELEX: 62008CB0563
Language: en
Date: 2010-10-06 00:00:00
Title: Case C-563/08: Order of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 6 October 2010 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Juzgado de lo Contencioso-Administrativo No 2 de Granada-Spain) — Carlos Sáez Snchez, Patricia Rueda Vargas v Junta de Andalucía, Manual Jalón Morente and Others (First subparagraph of Article 104(3) of the Rules of Procedure — Article 49 TFEU — Freedom of establishment — Public health — Pharmacies — Proximity — Provision of medicinal products to the public — Operating licence — Territorial distribution of pharmacies — Establishment of limits based on population density — Minimum distance between pharmacies keywords)

29.1.2011   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 30/10
            
         Order of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 6 October 2010 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Juzgado de lo Contencioso-Administrativo No 2 de Granada-Spain) — Carlos Sáez Snchez, Patricia Rueda Vargas v Junta de Andalucía, Manual Jalón Morente and Others
   (Case C-563/08) (1)
   
   (First subparagraph of Article 104(3) of the Rules of Procedure - Article 49 TFEU - Freedom of establishment - Public health - Pharmacies - Proximity - Provision of medicinal products to the public - Operating licence - Territorial distribution of pharmacies - Establishment of limits based on population density - Minimum distance between pharmacies keywords)
   2011/C 30/16
   Language of the case: Spanish
   
      Referring court
   
   Juzgado de lo Contencioso-Administrativo No 2 de Granada-Spain
   
      Parties to the main proceedings
   
   
      Applicants: Carlos Sáez Sánchez, Patricia Rueda Vargas
   
      Defendants: Junta de Andalucía, Manual Jalón Morente and Others
   
      Re:
   
   Reference for a preliminary ruling — Juzgado de lo Contencioso-Administrativo No 2 de Granada — Interpretation of Article 43 EC — Legislation laying down the conditions for the opening of new pharmacies — Limits according to the number of inhabitants and the need to maintain a minimum distance between the pharmacies
   
      Operative part of the order
   
   Article 49 TFEU must be interpreted as not precluding, in principle, national legislation, such as that at issue in the cases before the referring court, which imposes restrictions on the issue of licences for the opening of new pharmacies, by providing that:
   
               —
            
            
               in each pharmaceutical area, a single pharmacy may be opened, as a general rule, per unit of 2800 inhabitants;
            
         
               —
            
            
               a supplementary pharmacy may not be opened until that threshold has been exceeded, that pharmacy being established for the fraction above 2000 inhabitants; and
            
         
               —
            
            
               each pharmacy must be a minimum distance away from existing pharmacies, that distance being, as a general rule, 250 metres.
            
         Nevertheless, Article 49 TFEU precludes such national legislation in so far as the basic ‘2800 inhabitants’ and ‘250 metres’ rules prevent, in any geographical area which has special demographic features, the establishment of a sufficient number of pharmacies to ensure adequate pharmaceutical services, that being a matter for the national court to ascertain.
   
      (1)  OJ C 69, 21.03.2009.