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Paris - All but a handful of France's pharmacies were closed on Tuesday to protest the Socialist government's plans to introduce more competition into the sector.
Pharmacists were the latest profession to challenge President Francois Hollande's plans to deregulate their activities following a first-ever street protest earlier this month by notaries.
Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron hopes to give the euro zone's second-biggest economy a boost by shaking up regulations that currently give 37 professions, ranging from court clerks to taxi drivers, a monopoly-like grip on their industry.
Pharmacists are worried that the reform will allow supermarkets to sell over-the-counter drugs and pave the way to big outside investors buying up owner-run pharmacies.
About 97% of the pharmacies not ordered by law to remain open remained shuttered on Tuesday, according to the national order of pharmacists.
Big retailers like supermarket chain E Leclerc are lobbying hard to win the right to sell non-prescription drugs, including by airing prime-time television spots.
Macron, a 36-year-old former investment banker who was also previously Hollande's top economic adviser, said there were many false ideas circulating about the deregulation bill, which he aims to present at the end of the year.
"The bill aims to modernise the country in order to create activity wherever it's possible and to lower prices for households and companies," Macron said in an interview with regional newspaper Paris-Normandie.
