No special form
EU rules define the information a prescription must include, not its format. A prescription from the patient’s home country is usually sufficient.
Pharmacy
Prescriptions and medicines across EU borders
A prescription issued in one EU country can be used to obtain medicine in another. EU law sets out what such a prescription must contain, while each country keeps its own rules on dispensing and reimbursement. We help pharmacies, healthcare providers and companies apply these rules correctly.
Key rules
What applies to cross-border prescriptions
Common names help
A medicine may not be sold in another country, or may have a different brand name. Prescribing by the common (generic) name lets the pharmacist dispense an equivalent product.
Complete prescriptions should be dispensed
If a prescription contains all the required information and the medicine is available, a pharmacy in another EU country should not refuse it simply because it was issued abroad.
National dispensing rules apply
Validity periods and other dispensing conditions follow the law of the country where the medicine is dispensed, so a prescription can expire sooner than at home.
Geographic scope
The rules apply in all EU countries and in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Switzerland is not covered.
ePrescriptions
Electronic prescriptions can be used abroad only between countries connected through the EU’s cross-border eHealth services. Elsewhere, patients need a paper copy.
Checklist
What a cross-border prescription must contain
These minimum elements are set by Commission Implementing Directive 2012/52/EU, which supports the recognition of prescriptions issued in another Member State.
Required details
Patient
- Full name
- Date of birth
Prescription
- Date of issue
Prescriber
- Full name and qualification
- Contact details and work address, including country
- Signature, handwritten or digital
Medicine
- Common name
- Pharmaceutical form
- Quantity and strength
- Dosage
Legal framework
The EU rules behind it
Patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare
Sets the principle that prescriptions issued in one Member State are recognised in another, and that dispensing follows the rules of the dispensing country.
Recognition of medical prescriptions
Lists the minimum information a prescription must contain to be recognised across borders.
Social security coordination
Governs access to healthcare and the reimbursement of costs when people live, work or travel in another Member State.
How we help
Pharmaceutical rules in every Member State
Cross-border healthcare depends on how each country has transposed the EU directives. We compare national rules and help you apply them.
- 01Dispensing rulesValidity periods, substitution and other national conditions for dispensing foreign prescriptions.
- 02Prescription formats and ePrescriptionsChecking that paper and electronic prescriptions meet the EU minimum requirements.
- 03ReimbursementHow costs of medicines obtained abroad are covered under EU and national rules.
- 04Transposition reviewsConformity checks of national measures implementing the healthcare directives, using our EU law implementation methodology.
Useful resources
Official information from the EU
Your Europe
Contact
Questions about pharmaceutical rules in another Member State?
Tell us which countries and which issue you are dealing with. We will reply with a proposed approach.