The sheet to print
The prescription that travels: the sheet to keep
Six reflexes, from the doctor's surgery to the foreign counter. Each one carries the text it stands on.
File EU 2011/24
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Law as verified onJuly 29, 2026
- 01
Ask for the cross-border prescription before leaving
Your doctor can give you a prescription valid in another EU country, known as a cross-border prescription. It is one sentence to say during the consultation, not an administrative procedure.
Section “Presenting a prescription in another EU country” · Presenting a prescription in another EU country: the cross-border prescription · europa.eu - 02
Check the details, common name first
No compulsory form, but a minimum list of information: patient's name in full and date of birth, date of issue, complete and signed prescriber details, and the medicine under its common name rather than its brand, with format, quantity, strength and dosage.
Section “A prescription with the right information” · Presenting a prescription in another EU country: the information it must contain · europa.eu - 03
Back the e-prescription up with a paper copy
The e-prescription may not be available outside your home country: the official page advises asking for a paper copy as well whenever the prescription is meant to be used in another EU country.
Section “E-prescriptions” · Presenting a prescription in another EU country: e-prescriptions · europa.eu - 04
At the counter, accept the country's rules
The pharmacist applies national dispensing rules: dosage limits, validity periods, substitution by generics. Your prescription is recognised; it does not bring your home rules with it.
Section “A prescription with the right information”, warning · Presenting a prescription in another EU country: the dispensing country's rules · europa.eu - 05
Pay, keep the receipt, treat reimbursement separately
The recognition of prescriptions does not affect the rules on reimbursement of medicinal products. The receipt and the prescription are the documents of the reimbursement file, which plays out at its own counter.
Article 11(1), second subparagraph · Directive 2011/24/EU, Article 11, paragraph 1, second subparagraph (dispensing, substitution, reimbursement) · eur-lex.europa.eu - 06
Plan for the medicine that cannot be found
A medicine may not be authorised or available in another country, or may carry another name. Travel with the common name on the prescription and your doctor's contact details, to adapt the prescription if the molecule is missing.
Section “Presenting a prescription in another EU country”, warning · Presenting a prescription in another EU country: availability of medicines · europa.eu
General information on the European baseline, not legal advice on your case. Independent educational site, unconnected to the institutions of the European Union. The redress links in this file point only to official bodies.
Sources checked on July 29, 2026. · https://depleindroit.odersa.org/en/fiches/l-ordonnance-a-l-etranger · Content licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What the law owes you
Every right with its amount or its deadline, the extract of the official text it rests on, and its address.
A prescription recognised in the other EU countries
If the medicine is authorised on their territory, Member States ensure that prescriptions issued in another Member State for a named patient can be dispensed, and any blanket restriction on recognition is prohibited, apart from the written exceptions in the text.
The official text · Article 11(1), first subparagraph
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011L0024-20250112“If a medicinal product is authorised to be marketed on their territory, in accordance with Directive 2001/83/EC or Regulation (EC) No 726/2004, Member States shall ensure that prescriptions issued for such a product in another Member State for a named patient can be dispensed on their territory in compliance with their national legislation in force, and that any restrictions on recognition of individual prescriptions are prohibited unless such restrictions are: (a) limited to what is necessary and proportionate to safeguard human health, and non-discriminatory; or (b) based on legitimate and justified doubts about the authenticity, content or comprehensibility of an individual prescription.”
A cross-border prescription to request from your doctor
No specific form exists: what makes the prescription usable elsewhere is its content, at least the patient's name in full and date of birth, the date of issue, an identifiable and reachable prescriber, and the medicine under its common name, with format, quantity, strength and dosage.
The official text · Section “A prescription with the right information”
Your Europe · European Union · https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/health/prescription-medicine-abroad/prescriptions/index_en.htm“There is no specific form or format for a prescription you will use in another EU country. […] It has to contain at least the following information: Patient details: surname and first name (both written in full), and date of birth Date of issue of the prescription Details of the prescribing doctor: surname and first name (written in full), professional qualification, direct contact details, work address (including the country), and signature (written or digital) Details of the prescribed product: its common name (rather than the brand name, which may be different in another country), format (tablet, solution, etc.), quantity, strength and dosage.”
At the counter, the rules of the dispensing country
Dispensation is subject to the rules of the country where the prescription is used: the pharmacist applies national rules, for example time or dosage limitations. Recognition does not import your own country's rules.
The official text · Section “A prescription with the right information”, warning
Your Europe · European Union · https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/health/prescription-medicine-abroad/prescriptions/index_en.htm“The dispensation of prescriptions is subject to the rules of the country where they are dispensed. This means that a pharmacist will apply national rules when dispensing your medicine – for example, time or dosage limitations to dispensation of prescriptions.”
Reimbursement follows its own rules
The recognition of prescriptions does not affect the rules on reimbursement of medicinal products. Obtaining the medicine and being reimbursed are two separate files: pay, keep the receipt, and take reimbursement to its own counter.
The official text · Article 11(1), second subparagraph
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011L0024-20250112“The recognition of such prescriptions shall not affect national rules governing prescribing and dispensing, if those rules are compatible with Union law, including generic or other substitution. The recognition of prescriptions shall not affect the rules on reimbursement of medicinal products. Reimbursement of costs of medicinal products is covered by Chapter III of this Directive.”
The medicine's availability is not guaranteed
Some medicines may not be authorised for sale or may not be available in another country, even within the Union, or may exist under another name. The common name on the prescription is the best safeguard.
The official text · Section “Presenting a prescription in another EU country”, warning
Your Europe · European Union · https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/health/prescription-medicine-abroad/prescriptions/index_en.htm“Some medicines may not be authorised for sale or may not be available in another country, even within the EU.”
The pharmacist's ethical refusal, on a par with local prescriptions
The pharmacist keeps the right to refuse for ethical reasons, but only where he would have had the same right of refusal facing a prescription issued in the Member State of affiliation. No discrimination against the foreign prescription, and no free pass for it.
The official text · Article 11(1), third subparagraph
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011L0024-20250112“the recognition of prescriptions shall not affect a pharmacist’s right, by virtue of national rules, to refuse, for ethical reasons, to dispense a product that was prescribed in another Member State, where the pharmacist would have the right to refuse to dispense, had the prescription been issued in the Member State of affiliation.”
This site is educational and independent: it is not an official site of the European Union, and this verdict is not legal advice on your case. The wordings quoted are copied from the official text and the official page, whose link appears under each right.
File EU 2011/24
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