Luxembourg, 01/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - The British group Vision Express has argued before the Court of Justice that the Belgian Royal Decree of 1967 which confines opticians to tests of eyesight, while eye examinations are reserved to ophthalmologists, is illegal. Its Belgian subsidiary GrandVision Belgium cannot make use of certain equipment which, explained the parent company, has led to the success of its 133 shops in the United Kingdom, where opticians may legally examine the retina and cornea. In Belgium, these examinations are conducted by ophthalmologists. The Belgian ophthalmologists' professional association initiated legal proceedings against GrandVision.
GrandVision recognises that conditions for admission to the optician profession are not regulated at European level but it claims that Member States must respect a basic principle: freedom of establishment of Community opticians who, in Belgium, must be allowed to make full use of their skills and equipment.
This case before the European Court of Justice really only got under way in June 1999, after a lengthy judicial procedure in Belgium. In 1996, the Brussels district court decided to refer the case to Luxembourg.
The facts date back to the early 90s, after Vision Express UK set up its Belgian subsidiary. This firm also distributed advertising describing its services and offering customers a computerised test of ocular blood pressure, a "retinoscopy" and "biomicroscopy" (exam checking the cornea). The Belgian Professional Union of Doctors of Ophthalmologists and Ocular Surgeons lodged a complaint in 1991 for illegal practice of medicine and misleading advertising.
GrandVision challenges the idea that doctors alone can conduct these examinations. It has never been proved that Vision Express equipment used by licensed opticians is a risk to public health. In any event, it explains, a pure and simple ban on conducting these examinations is a disproportionate measure in relation to the public health objective.
The Belgian Union of Ophthalmologists maintains that "opticians and large international commercial groups are not primarily concerned with public health, but only with the profit their various activities generate". It also rejects the argument of "obstacle to the free movement of goods" raised by GrandVision: the import of this medical equipment is not banned in Belgium since doctors buy such equipment. The ophthalmologists also argue that this is a purely Belgian matter and does not concern the Court of Justice since the Vision Express subsidiary is Belgian and the disputed regulation is also Belgian: freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services are unrelated to the case, they contend.
The European Commission recalls that in the absence of Community rules specific to a profession, each Member State is free to regulate it on its territory as long as measures taken are proportional to the objective being sought, in this case, the public health. It also points out that the fact that one Member State (United Kingdom) imposes rules that are less strict than another's (Belgium) does not mean that the Belgian measures are disproportionate and incompatible with Community law. The Commission argues that the current regulation should be maintained.