European Commission refers Romania to the CJEU over late payments to pharmacies

The European Commission announced that it had referred Romania to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), considering that the authorities had not taken the necessary measures to ensure that National Health Insurance House (NHIH) respected the legal payment deadline to pharmacy operators.

According to the European Executive, Directive 2011/7/EU stipulates that public entities providing medical services must pay commercial transactions within 60 calendar days at most. However, the Commission claims that NHIH constantly exceeds this deadline, and the delays are „systemic and persistent”.

“By failing to ensure that NHIH makes payments to pharmacy operators within the prescribed period, Romania has breached its obligations under the directive,” the European Commission said in a statement on Wednesday.

The infringement procedure was launched in April 2024, when the Commission sent Romania a letter of formal notice, following complaints from associations representing over 500 independent pharmacies. The Romanian authorities subsequently received a reasoned opinion in February 2025 and a supplementary reasoned opinion in January 2026.

The Commission considers that the measures adopted by the Romanian authorities were not sufficient to remedy the situation and has decided to refer the case to the CJEU.

According to data provided by the Romanian authorities, pharmacies receive reimbursements on average with delays of 62 to 79 days beyond the legal deadline of 60 days.

The European executive warns that payment delays affect supply chains, competitiveness and companies’ ability to invest, especially in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises.

In Romania, pharmacies buy medicines from manufacturers and distributors with their own funds and dispense them to patients within the public health system, which will then be reimbursed by NHIH.