In its decision of 30 October 2024, the Federal Administrative Court upheld the appeal of a pharmacist holding a pharmacy diploma and a continuing education qualification in offizinpharmacy obtained in Germany. The appellant challenged the decision of the Medical Professions Commission (Medizinalberufekommission, MEBEKO), which had imposed additional requirements for the recognition of her qualifications to practice as a pharmacist in Switzerland.

The case stemmed from the appellant's application in 2019 for the recognition of her German qualifications in Switzerland. After several revisions, MEBEKO required the appellant to complete additional measures, including proof of continuing education and skills such as vaccination, blood sampling, and medical history taking, which were deemed to be missing from her qualifications. The appellant contested these requirements, arguing that they were unnecessary within the legal framework.

The court addressed two key issues: (1) whether the application of the new Continuing Education Regulations (Weiterbildungsprogramm 2019, WBP 2019) was appropriate, given that the application was made in 2019, before the regulations came into force, and (2) whether MEBEKO had sufficiently justified the imposition of these equivalency measures. The court ruled that MEBEKO’s application of the WBP 2019 was improper, as the regulations had not yet taken effect when the application was filed, and the imposition of competencies like vaccination and blood sampling lacked sufficient legal justification, particularly for competencies not included in the 2013 Continuing Education Regulations (Weiterbildungsprogramm 2013, WBP 2013). Additionally, the court noted that MEBEKO had failed to fulfill its obligation to adequately justify these additional requirements.

Consequently, the court annulled MEBEKO’s decision and referred the case back for re-evaluation to ensure that the correct legal framework and regulations were applied and that any further requirements were properly justified.

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