Competition: Commission report finds active competition enforcement contributes to affordable and #InnovativeMedicines

The European Commission has published a report showing that active competition law enforcement, at EU and national level, in the pharmaceutical sector contributes to delivering more affordable medicines and more choice to patients and health-care systems, and promotes further innovation. The report focuses on the period since 2009, when the Commission carried out an inquiry into competition in the pharmaceutical sector.

The Commission drafted the report in close co-operation with the national competition authorities of the 28 EU Member States, with which the Commission works in the European Competition Network. On the basis of the insights gained from the report, the Commission and the national competition authorities will continue their enforcement efforts in the pharmaceutical sector, which remains a matter of high priority taking into account the importance of the sector both economically and in terms of impact on peoples' well-being and lives. The executive summary and the report are available in all official EU languages on the Commission's competition website. Margrethe Vestager, commissioner in charge of competition policy, said “Giving European patients and health-care systems access to affordable and innovative medicines is one of Europe's main challenges and objectives. The report published today provides key insights into the valuable work that competition authorities across Europe are doing to ensure that pharmaceutical markets help achieve this goal. It is important that we continue giving a high priority to our work in this area.”

The full press release is available online.

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