On 7 November 2011, the European Commission organised a public stakeholder conference on the modernisation of the Professional Qualifications Directive (DIR 36). It was the last formal opportunity for those involved in the consultation process to voice their positions and flag the key issues at stake before the Commission will release its proposal in December.
The high level conference followed two rounds of consultations (see the EPHA response to the Green Paper and to the first round of the consultation) as well as a number of formal and informal meetings on the issue of mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
Conference chair Juergen Tiedje, head of the ”free movement of professionals” unit at DG MARKT in charge of the consultation, cautioned that a revised Directive would however not translate into a brand new one. A number of complex issues would be better addressed outside of the scope of the Directive.
The conference gathered, amongst others, key representatives of health professional associations, civil society organisations (including several EPHA members), national governments and competent authorities. Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services recalled that the Directive was seen as an indispensable tool for achieving the objectives of the Single Market Act and for European competitiveness. Hence it could be beneficial to extend the automatic recognition regime to other professions and reduce the number of regulated professions.
Participants emphasised the added value of automatic recognition for improving health professional mobility, and they also recognised the need to strengthen and improve the minimum requirements for the health professions, in line with EPHA’s Joint Statement with EPF, EWL and BEUC. Many of the questions contained in the Green Paper – amongst them the pros and cons of introducing a European Professional Card and of relaunching common platforms, the importance of language testing and value of Continuous Professional Development, and the question as to whether a more competence-based approach should be taken for recognising professional qualifications were brought to the table again. While there were various positions on some of these important issues, there was an overall agreement that administrative simplification through use of an expanded Internal Market Information System (IMI) would be a good thing for facilitating mobility between Member States.
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EPHA related articles
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