The EU pharmaceutical market: crossing paths between regulation, competition law and free movement

The EU pharmaceutical industry represents a unique market framework where various policy areas overlap with the aim of developing innovative, safe and affordable treatments and, ultimately, of promoting the health and welfare of individuals. The bodies of legislation characterising this sector are, primarily, competition and free movement law, these being the pillars upon which the EU internal market rests, to which is added an extensive regulation governing several aspects of the pharmaceutical life cycle. Furthermore, this industry features a strong intervention of public authorities, whose presence must be balanced against the interests of private pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical market is thus significantly different from other industries in a number of respects. From this starting point, this book intends to explore whether (and to what extent) the application of EU competition law, in its interplay with the above-mentioned sets of law, is affected by the specificity of this regulated sector, with a view to drawing some final considerations on the role of competition law within the market framework in question.