Towards harmonisation of penalties to stamp out falsified medicines in the EU

16.2.2018

Question for written answer E-000964-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Alain Cadec (PPE)

Directive 2011/62/EU provides for ‘effective, proportionate and dissuasive’ penalties to be applied when falsified medicines are discovered (Article 118a).

However, in practice, those penalties vary considerably from one Member State to another. Prison sentences for falsifying medicines range from 1 to 15 years and fines from EUR 4 300 to 1 000 000. What is more, some countries levy fines for importing and exporting counterfeit products, while others impose only civil penalties for the same wrongdoing.

Will the Commission take measures to make penalties for falsifying medicines more coherent in the EU?