OBJECTIVES: The economic crisis has led Greece to adopt measures towards reducing public pharmaceutical expenditure. One of the most important key sectors addressed was that of the market share of generics. The aim of the study was to evaluate stakeholder’s perceptions of the recently introduced or planned pharmaceutical policy reforms regarding generics policy in Greece. METHODS: A qualitative study, using the method of semi-structured interviews was conducted. We identified 24 decision makers and opinion leaders from public and private organizations, after developing an influence map. In total 17 interviews were conducted, using an open-ended questions guide. The interviews were tape recorded, transcribed and content analyzed.  RESULTS: The majority of stakeholders perceived the prices of generics as “high” and “non-competitive” and their pricing system as problematic, also highlighting the lack of incentives for increased use of generics that results in low penetration in the market. An important issue strongly emphasized was the introduction of stricter audit and quality control mechanisms. Regarding INN prescribing, stakeholders appeared to be skeptical for both its effectiveness and its viability, as concerns focusing on the maturity of the system, on the culture and education of the physicians and on the lack of monitoring mechanisms, cannot guarantee its effective implementation. CONCLUSIONS: There is general agreement that a generics policy in Greece should aim at having low prices and higher generic penetration in the market, by introducing incentives for all stakeholders as well as ensuring the quality and safety of generics. The introduction of INN was not clearly deemed as a measure that can assist to achieve the goal of containing pharmaceutical expenditure. The pricing system of generics has now been reformed, leading to lower prices. Further policy measures are needed in the framework of a comprehensive generics policy in order to increase generics consumption.