In CMVRO case (C-297/16), the Court of Justice provided for the first time an interpretation of Article 15(2)(c) of the Services Directive. This Article provides that the requirements relating to the shareholding of a company must be non-discriminatory, necessary and proportionate.
The Court of Justice was asked whether certain Romanian rules regarding the provision of veterinary services where compliant with EU Law. Some of these rules required that the retailers of veterinary medicines should be owned exclusively by veterinaries.
In its judgment of 1st March 2018, the Court first ruled that it is not contrary to Article 15 of the Services Directive to reserve the right to retail certain products such as veterinary medicines to veterinaries. The Court also held that the sale of veterinary medicines should be monitored effectively by veterinaries because others may adopt economic strategies that are a risk for public health. However, according to the Court, this risk could be avoided without the requirement that retailers of veterinary medicines should be owned exclusively by veterinaries. This requirement therefore violated Article 15(2)(c) of the Services Directive.
For further information on this case and/or for general legal advice relating to the internal market rules, please contact Pierre de Bandt or Jeroen Dewispelaere.