Cross-Border Pharmacy Services in the EU: How Generic Drug Mobility Works Today

Imagine you’re on vacation in Spain and your blood pressure medication runs out. Back home, you take a generic version that’s cheap and reliable. But in Spain, the same drug is sold under a different brand, or maybe it’s not stocked at all. You don’t speak Spanish well. You’re stressed. You just need your pills. This isn’t a rare problem-it’s something millions of EU citizens face every year. But now, thanks to a quiet revolution in digital health, it doesn’t have to be that way.

The EU’s Hidden Health Network

Since 2011, the European Union has had a law that lets you get your prescription filled in another EU country. Directive 2011/24/EU gave patients the right to seek healthcare-including medication-across borders. But for years, it was mostly theoretical. Paper prescriptions didn’t travel well. Pharmacies didn’t know how to verify foreign doctors. Language barriers made it risky. Today, that’s changed.

The real game-changer is the ePrescription and eDispensation system, part of the eHealth Digital Service Infrastructure (eHDSI) a secure digital network connecting national health systems across the EU, enabling cross-border access to prescriptions and patient summaries. It’s branded as MyHealth@EU the public-facing platform for EU citizens to access cross-border digital health services including electronic prescriptions and health summaries. Right now, 27 EU and EEA countries are connected. Iceland will join by August 2025, completing the network.

This isn’t just about convenience. It’s about access. If you live near the German-Dutch border, you might already be using it. A 2025 survey showed 78% of people in border regions successfully filled prescriptions abroad. But outside those zones? Only 42% had success. Why? Because the system works only if both your home country and the country you’re visiting have fully implemented it-and many haven’t.

How It Actually Works (Step by Step)

You don’t need to be tech-savvy. Here’s how it works in practice:

1. Your doctor in Germany issues an electronic prescription. It’s stored securely in your national health portal.
2. You travel to France. You find a pharmacy that accepts ePrescriptions.
3. You log into your national portal (like Germany’s eGK) and give temporary access to the French pharmacy for your prescription.
4. The French pharmacist sees your prescription, your allergies, and your current meds through your Patient Summary a digital document containing key health data like allergies, active medications, and past diagnoses, translated into the local language.
5. They dispense the generic version of your drug-same active ingredient, same dose, same safety profile.

That’s it. No faxing. No mailing. No waiting. The whole process takes under five minutes if the systems are working.

What You Can and Can’t Get

Not every drug is available everywhere. The EU allows cross-border access to generic medicines-the non-brand versions of drugs whose patents have expired. These are cheaper, equally effective, and widely used across the bloc. But here’s the catch: while the active ingredient is the same, the pill might look different. The shape, color, or inactive ingredients can vary by country. That’s normal. It doesn’t mean it’s less safe.

What you can’t get easily? Controlled substances like strong painkillers or psychiatric meds. These are tightly regulated per country. Even if your prescription is valid, the pharmacy might refuse to dispense it if local rules are stricter. Also, medicines not authorized in the destination country won’t be available-even if they’re approved in your home country.

And don’t assume UK prescriptions work. Ireland explicitly rejects prescriptions from UK telehealth services unless they meet strict local criteria. Pharmacists are required to check the prescriber’s registration and how the consultation was conducted. Many patients have been turned away because they used a UK-based app-something they didn’t realize was illegal under Irish law.

Why This Matters for Generic Drugs

Generic drugs are the backbone of affordable healthcare in the EU. They make up over 80% of prescriptions in countries like Germany and Sweden. But prices vary wildly. A 30-day supply of metformin might cost €2 in Poland and €18 in Italy. That’s not because one is better-it’s because of pricing rules, taxes, and reimbursement systems.

Cross-border pharmacy services let you buy cheaper generics legally. A patient in Austria could order their diabetes meds from a pharmacy in Hungary and have them delivered via the ePrescription system. This isn’t just about saving money. It’s about fairness. People in high-cost countries are being forced to pay more just because they live in the wrong zip code.

The European Shortages Medicines Platform (ESMP) a centralized EU system launched in 2025 to monitor and coordinate cross-border responses to drug shortages was created partly to fix this. When a drug runs out in one country, it can request stock from another. This helps prevent panic buying and hoarding. It also means generics can be redirected where they’re needed most.

The Big Gaps: Who’s Left Behind?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: this system works great-if you’re in the right country. Only 8 EU member states have clear rules for how pharmacists should handle e-pharmacy prescriptions. That means in places like Romania or Bulgaria, pharmacists might not even know how to process your foreign e-prescription. They might refuse it out of fear.

And then there’s the consent problem. To share your health data across borders, you have to log in, give permission, set time limits, and sometimes re-authenticate every time. In Iceland, you use your national ID on island.is. In France, it’s Ameli. In Italy, it’s SPID. It’s confusing. A 2025 patient survey found 63% of users gave up after the second step.

Even worse: many people don’t know this service exists. Only 38% of EU citizens are aware they can get prescriptions filled abroad. In non-border areas, that number drops below 25%. The European Commission’s own reports admit the rollout has been uneven. Some countries treat it like a bonus feature. Others treat it like a legal obligation.

What’s Changing in 2025?

This year brought major updates. Italy replaced the old paper “bollino” stickers on prescriptions with GS1 DataMatrix codes a scannable 2D barcode that contains encrypted prescription data and is now mandatory on all EU prescriptions issued after February 9, 2025. This makes fraud harder and speeds up verification. Spain and Portugal are following suit.

The Critical Medicines Act a 2025 EU regulation requiring pharmaceutical companies to report real-time supply and demand data to prevent drug shortages across borders forces drugmakers to be more transparent. If a generic drug is running low in France, the system flags it-and other countries can step in to help.

The European Medicines Agency is also pushing for better data sharing. By 2027, your digital health record could include lab results, imaging scans, and hospital discharge notes-all in your language. That’s huge for chronic disease patients who travel often.

What You Should Do Right Now

If you take generic medication regularly and travel within the EU:

• Check if your country has joined the ePrescription network. Visit your national health portal.
• Ask your doctor to issue your prescription electronically. Paper won’t work abroad.
• Enable your Patient Summary. Make sure your allergies and current meds are listed.
• Before you travel, test the system. Log in, grant access to a test country (like Belgium or the Netherlands), and see if it works.
• Carry a printed list of your meds in English. Even if the system fails, you’ll have backup.

Pharmacists need about 40 hours of training to handle cross-border scripts. If you’re turned away, ask to speak to the manager. Show them the MyHealth@EU website. Most don’t know the rules-but they’ll follow them if you remind them.

The Future: A Health System Without Borders

The goal isn’t just to let you buy cheaper pills. It’s to make healthcare in the EU feel seamless. A diabetic in Finland should get the same quality insulin as someone in Greece. A heart patient in Portugal should be able to refill their beta-blockers in Sweden without paperwork.

The technology is ready. The laws exist. The savings are real. The 2025 EAEP Action Plan estimates digital pharmacy services reduce medication errors by 22% and improve chronic disease compliance by 17%. That’s not just efficiency-it’s lives saved.

But progress depends on you. If you don’t use it, the system won’t grow. If you don’t ask for it, pharmacies won’t prioritize it. If you don’t push back when you’re denied, the gaps will stay.

This isn’t science fiction. It’s happening now. And if you’re one of the 62% of EU citizens who still don’t know about it-you’re not alone. But you’re also not powerless. Start with one step: check your national health portal today. Your next prescription might be just a click away.