Brussels, 27/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 27 March, the European Commission said that it has concluded that a German scheme exempting pharmaceutical companies from mandatory rebates was in line with EU State aid rules.
Germany introduced price freezes in the form of rebates to be granted by producers of certain prescription medicines of public sickness funds and private health insurers. The system allows derogations to be granted if a company can prove that the mandatory rebate places an unacceptable financial burden on it.
The Commission started its in-depth investigation after a competitor complained that these derogations constitute illegal state aid. The Commission's investigation concluded that the scheme indeed involves state aid, since exemptions from the rebate increase the costs of public sickness funds. Additionally, only those companies that are able to prove that they are in financial difficulties due to a price freeze can benefit from the exemption and receive a higher price for their sales than that of their competitors. This advantage affects competition and trade between member states.
Nevertheless, the Commission found that the scheme pursues an objective of common interest, namely to ensure that Germany can implement price freezes to keep the level of costs of the public health system under control, and the way in which the scheme is designed also ensures that the aid is strictly limited to what is necessary to reach this aim. (Élodie Lamer)