About us

For national professional associations in member states of the European Union, it has become absolutely necessary to look across their national borders: for organisations representing the interests of employed community pharmacists, the European fundamental principles for regulations on working time, for studying pharmacy and for continuing professional development of pharmacists are as important, as the regulations about the freedom of establishment, the recognition of the professional qualification and those about distance selling.

Founded in 2012 (1st General Assembly on 30th June 2012), EPhEU will help the cross-border cooperation of national organisations representing employed community pharmacists. The exchange of information and experiences shall be intensified at periodical international meetings, to give a better response to subjects like mobility, working time directive and on-call-time, formation and continuing professional qualification of pharmacists.

Since 2014, EPhEU is Observer member of FIP (International Pharmaceutical Federation).

Regarding new regulations on EU-level, EPhEU shall be the voice of the different national organisations and formulate the answer of the employed community pharmacists in Europe. For instance, EPhEU took part at the EU-Survey on working time and gave answers to the questions following the decisions in the EPhEU working group “Working Time”.

In 2015, the General Assembly decided to help members of European countries where representations of employee pharmacist do not already exist to establish such an organisation.

Vision

European Association of Employed Community Pharmacists (EPhEU) connects representative organisations across Europe and represents professional, strategic, legal, socio-political, and cultural interests of employed pharmacists in Europe.

Mission

Our mission is:
• advocate and protect the interests of community employee pharmacists.
• Promoting and developing communication and sharing experiences and collaboration between community pharmacists as well as their representative organisations across Europe.
• Improving health outcomes by advancing pharmacy education, practice, pharmaceutical care, population health and health promotion.

History

At a meeting 2007 in Hamburg, the German and the Austrian representants of the employee pharmacists started the project of an European employee Association. In 2008, the French colleagues were contacted and at a first meeting again in Hamburg, at the Interpharm in spring 2009, these three decided to join their forces to get started such an organisation.

The next organisations to come on board were from Belgium and from Croatia. At different meetings in the next years, they decided to found the organisation in Austria and worked on the statutes until 2012, when EPhEU could finally be founded as European Organisation representing the interests of employee community pharmacists.

Foundation Members

• Austria: VAAOE (Verband Angestellter Apotheker Österreichs)
• Croatia: CPhS (Croatian Pharmaceutical Society)
• France: CFE-CGC and Conseil Central D de l’Ordre National des Pharmaciens
• Germany (ADEXA – die Apothekengewerkschaft)
• Belgium (OPHACO)