The European Commission announced that it initiated an infringement procedure against Romania because the country fails to pay its bills to independent pharmacies in a timely manner. This puts financial pressure and risks pushing into bankruptcy independent pharmacies, the EC says.

The commission decided to send Romania a letter of delay due to public health authorities paying independent pharmacies with significant delays for medicines dispensed to patients through the national health insurance system, Economica.net reported.

Specifically, the country allegedly breaches Directive 2011/7 on combating late payment in commercial transactions.

Directive 2011/7 obliges public authorities to pay their invoices within 30 calendar days, the legal payment term can be extended up to a maximum of 60 calendar days for public entities that provide healthcare services.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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