A new directive to protect patients from counterfeit drugs has been approved by the European Parliament.
New safeguards include extra safety features on drug packaging and new measures for internet pharmacies.
According to a recent report on the BBC, an estimated 1% of medicines sold to the public in Europe through legal channels are fake.
The 27 EU governments - the Council - will now study the directive and they can still make amendments before it becomes law. The final text will then be incorporated into national laws EU-wide within two years.
The legislation introduces a product authentication system and new safety features on packaging. The key to the system is a two-dimensional barcode added to prescription medicines that can be read by a new scanner.
More on this as it develops.
