France asked to lift constraints on medical analysis laboratories

Brussels, 29 Oct 2004

The European Commission has reminded France of its obligation to comply with a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling instructing the country to lift its restrictions on the activities of medical analysis laboratories with a letter of formal notice.

Under French law, a medical analysis laboratory established in another Member State may not conduct medical analyses in France unless it has a registered office in the country. Furthermore, reimbursement of the costs of medical analyses performed outside of France cannot be made unless the analyses could not have been performed in France. The ECJ thus ruled that French law is incompatible with the rules laid down in the Treaty on the freedom to provide services.

If France fails to comply with Community law, the Commission may request that the ECJ imposes a daily penalty.

CORDIS RTD-NEWS / © European Communities
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