Greece is stepping up efforts to secure a pause in the implementation of the EU’s Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, seeking time to revise provisions that it says could sharply increase medicine prices and trigger shortages.
The initiative is being led by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, who raised the issue publicly again during the Delphi Economic Forum. Athens is calling for a “stop-the-clock” mechanism to delay the rollout of the directive and allow targeted changes.
Georgiadis cautioned that implementing the rules from January 2027 would have severe consequences. “Its implementation will lead to significant increases in medicine prices, at least 100%, and will force the EU to turn to imports from other regions. This is absurd,” he noted.
Athens has already begun rallying support at the EU level. Greece raised the issue last October, mobilising several health ministers to co-sign a letter outlining the risks and backing a pause.
As Georgiadis told Euractiv on the sidelines of the Forum, he has also formally written to Environment Minister Stavros Papastavrou, whose portfolio includes the directive, urging him to raise the issue at an upcoming meeting of EU environment ministers. Papastavrou is understood to be receptive to bringing the matter forward for discussion.
Safeguarding pharmaceutical innovation
Georgiadis emphasised the importance of protecting pharmaceutical innovation in Europe, highlighting Greece’s role in previous regulatory debates.
“I am proud that Greece played a very important role in preventing a change to the EU Pharma regulations in a direction that would have been absolutely negative for innovation. The Commission’s initial proposals, had they been adopted, would have been the greatest disincentive for attracting pharmaceutical innovation to Europe,” he said.
He warned, however, that Europe is already losing ground globally. While the continent held a strong position in the early 2000s, it now trails far behind the United States, with China rapidly catching up and India having already overtaken it in some areas.
Global competition intensifies
Olympios Papadimitriou, president of the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies, and head of Novo Nordisk in Greece, underscored the scale of the challenge.
“Europe is at a disadvantage. The revision of pharmaceutical legislation appears to be nearing completion, but it does not include measures that would substantially shift the balance in its favour against the United States or China,” he said.
He noted that China now leads global investment in pharmaceutical R&D, with €109 billion, compared with €71 billion in the United States and €52 billion in Europe.
“It is a market which, as living standards improve, can effectively absorb the products it produces,” he said.
Georgiadis also pointed to shifting dynamics in the United States, where pricing reforms could reduce the traditional advantage of higher drug prices, potentially opening a window for Europe to strengthen its position.
Pressure on the Greek system
Industry representatives acknowledged reform efforts but noted the limitations of a system based on capped public spending, citing structural pressures in its pharmaceutical market.
Under this model, the state sets a fixed budget without fully reflecting actual healthcare needs, leading to increasing clawbacks, that is, mandatory returns to the state when spending exceeds limits. In some cases, these have reached levels that threaten the viability of certain medicines, Papadimitriou warned.
Meanwhile, Greece is advancing digital reforms, including the rollout of enhanced electronic prescribing tools incorporating detailed product data and contraindications.
[BM]
Source:
www.euractiv.com