Pharmacies were closed across France on 30 September 2014 as community pharmacists went on strike against government reforms, which they fear could reduce their income and open up the non-prescription medicine market to supermarket chains.
In Paris, members of the Union Nationale des Pharmacies de France took part in a demonstration outside the Upper House Senate as other self-employed professionals, including doctors and lawyers, took similar action in protest at government austerity proposals.
Under existing French law, pharmacies have a monopoly on the sale of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, which are not available elsewhere.
Pharmacists are concerned that government plans to reduce monopolies held by some self-employed professionals as a means of reducing government debt will mean they may have to relinquish their control of the OTC medicines market.
