The pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries have gone to the EU’s court to challenge a directive that requires them to finance at least 80% of urban wastewater treatment.
Players in the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries have brought a case against the Directive on the Treatment of Urban Wastewater to the Court of Justice of the European Union
The European Directive, which came into force on 1 January 2025, requires producers of medicines and cosmetics to finance at least 80% of treatment to eliminate micropollutants from urban wastewater, in accordance with the polluter pays principle.
More than 90% of the “micropollutants that leave the effluent of wastewater treatment plants come from pharmaceutical and cosmetic products”, Hans Goossens, President of Water Europe, told Euronews.
In his view, it is therefore “fair” that “80% of the costs of eliminating this waste should be borne by those who generate these costs”.
“The polluter pays principle is the cornerstone of European environmental policy”, he adds.
A call for burden-sharing
For their part, the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors believe that the burden should be shared more evenly.
“We’re all in favour of paying our fair share of the pollution we generate, but it has to be a fair share,” Nathalie Moll, Director General of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), told Euronews.
“We’re trying to understand, since we couldn’t get the data from the European Commission and the methodology on which the decision was based, we’re trying find out who the different polluters are and make sure that this important directive is set up on the right principles and that all the actors are involved, not only to pay their fair share, but also to make sure they’re incentivised to make more sustainable products in the future,” she adds.
The EFPIA director also regrets not having had access to the European Commission’s methodology and data.
Astronomic price rises for medicines as a result?
The Commission estimates the cost of additional treatment at wastewater treatment plants at €1.2 billion a year.
While some claim that this is a drop in the bucket compared to the turnover of the pharmaceutical sector, Medicines for Europe considers that this directive is “disproportionate” and jeopardises the accessibility and affordability of medicines.
“So obviously, because we cannot increase the prices of medicines in Europe legally, this would make these medicines unavailable for patients, creating a tsunami of shortages,” Adrian van den Hoven, Director General of Medicines for Europe, told Euronews .
He claims, for example, that the cost of the diabetes drug metformin could rise by 900% and that of the antibiotic amoxicillin could increase by 350%.
In total, players in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, including Accord Healthcare France, Dermapharm, EFPIA, Adamed Pharma, Hexal and Cosmetics Europe, have brought 16 cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Poland has also referred the matter to the Court of Justice of the EU.
The Commission’s response
After being contacted by Euronews, the Commission assured that the potential effects of extended producer responsibility on the pharmaceutical industry have been carefully assessed in the impact assessment.
The repercussions “on the prices of pharmaceutical products” and “the reduction in the industry’s profit margins should be marginal”, a Commission spokesman said.
He added that ” the directive provides considerable flexibility for member states in calculating the fees and ensuring that they are proportionate and do not impact the accessibility and affordability of medicines”.
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