The European Commission (EC) has asked Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin to clarify the grounds for the legal requirements that all pharmacy owners in Bulgaira hold pharmacist degrees and the ban on pharmacists to own more than one pharmacy, the head of Bulgaria's pharmacy owners association Nikolai Kostov said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily on June 12.

Kostov said he interpreted the letter from internal market and services commissioner Charlie McCreevy represents the first warning before an infringement procedure from the EU executive.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that all measures banning, obstructing or making less attractive the exercise of civil rights and freedoms should be deemed as limitations contravening the European Community Treaty, Kostov said.

Should Bulgaria fail to change its legislation, the EC will levy a fine. Currently, the EC has opened similar infringement procedures against six EU member states, among which Italy, Spain, Austria and Greece.

The Medicines Act restricting ownership of pharmacies to persons with the relevant academic background took effect on April 13 2007 and gave owners a transition period of one year to re-register. In a vote earlier this year, Parliament extended the deadline to the end of 2008.

Meanwhile, the Commission for the Protection of Competition ruled that the law acted against public interest, restricted competition and recommended that the laws be changed. The Government also filed amendments, which waived the degree restriction.

Despite the objections of the Bulgarian Pharmaceuticals Union, Parliament passed the changes at first reading.

Currently, Bulgaria has about 4 000 pharmacies.