Brussels, 24/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to verify whether a German scheme, granting companies in financial difficulties exemptions from a 16% rebate (from 1 August 2010 to 31 December 2013) that pharmaceutical companies are obliged to offer to German public sickness insurance funds and private health insurers, is in line with EU state aid rules.
At this stage, the Commission considers that these derogations involve state aid, as the exemptions from the rebate have an impact on state resources. They increase the costs of the public sickness insurance funds that receive their means mainly from a central health fund which is partly financed through tax subsidies. Moreover, although the possibility for derogations from price freezes is provided for in the directive, the legal basis for the exemptions is a German law and they are granted on a case-by-case basis by a German authority. The notion of “particular reasons” leaves significant discretion to member states. Due to the definition of “particular reasons” under German law, it is very likely that all beneficiaries concerned are firms in financial difficulty. State aid granted to companies in difficulty needs to comply with common criteria set out in the EU guidelines for rescuing and restructuring companies in financial difficulty. At this stage, the Commission has doubts that the German measure complies with the R&R guidelines, because the aid is neither limited in time nor granted on the basis of a restructuring plan. The Commission is now awaiting comments from interested parties before deciding on the case. (FG/transl.fl)