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Hecker, Pascale --- "EU TRADE LAW AND PHARMACEUTICALS" [2019] ELECD 1275; in Figueroa, Pablo; Guerrero, Alejandro (eds), "EU Law of Competition and Trade in the Pharmaceutical Sector" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 377

Book Title: EU Law of Competition and Trade in the Pharmaceutical Sector

Editor(s): Figueroa, Pablo; Guerrero, Alejandro

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: EU TRADE LAW AND PHARMACEUTICALS

Author(s): Hecker, Pascale

Number of pages: 28

Abstract/Description:

Improving access to essential medicines in developing countries is one of the goals that have been set by world leaders in the context of the Union Nations. The European Union (‘EU’) is committed to achieving this goal. The aim of this contribution is to verify whether the EU has taken the necessary measures to effectively ensure such access. In the framework of its trade policy, the EU is faced with conflicting interests, namely the protection of IP, on the one hand, and free trade and public health, on the other hand, which it has to try and balance. While IP rights encourage innovation and are consequently of the utmost importance to the pharmaceutical industry, they also hinder access to medicines in developing countries because strict patent protection drives prices up and restricts the production of generic medicines. It is submitted that, in this balancing exercise, the EU very often favours the protection of IP rights, to the detriment of access to essential drugs in developing countries.