With the law of 7 April 2019, the Belgian legislator provided for a de facto export ban of medicines with a view to counter medicine shortages in Belgium. On 18 July 2019, the Belgian Constitutional Court already suspended the relevant provisions of the law of 7 April 2019.
On 17 October 2019, the Court now also annulled the relevant provisions, stating that the current legal framework (if enforced) already provides for sufficient guarantees to avoid shortages of medicinal products on the Belgian market. Therefore the Court ruled that the provisions of the law of 7 April 2019 providing for a de facto export ban of medicinal products constitutes a limitation of the legally enshrined right of free entrepreneurship and the free movement of goods principle within the European Union.
Click here to read the judgement in Dutch
Click here to read the judgement in French