Professional qualifications in the EU: Directive 2005/36/EC, the EPC and the alert mechanism

Three routes to recognition

The 2005 directive covers people who want to practise in another member state the profession they qualified for at home ¹. It has three main routes ¹.

• Automatic recognition on the basis of coordinated minimum training conditions, for doctors, nurses responsible for general care, dental practitioners, veterinary surgeons, midwives, pharmacists and architects ¹.
• The general system, where a host state may ask for an adaptation period or an aptitude test, and the applicant chooses between them in most cases ¹.
• Temporary and occasional services, judged case by case on duration, frequency, regularity and continuity ¹.

Key deadlines in the law

The European Professional Card

The EPC is an electronic procedure run through the Internal Market Information System (IMI) ². Your Europe says it is only available to nurses responsible for general care, pharmacists, physiotherapists, mountain guides and real estate agents ³. Other professions use the standard procedure ³.

The home authority acknowledges an application within one week and has up to one month to check it and pass it to the host country ³. If the host state does not decide in time, the directive says the card is deemed issued and sent automatically through IMI ². Both home and host authorities may charge fees and send separate invoices ³. The directive says EPC fees must be reasonable and proportionate ².

An EPC does not give an automatic right to practise where the host state already had registration requirements for that profession ².

The alert mechanism

Article 56a, added in 2013, requires competent authorities to warn all other member states through IMI when a professional is restricted or barred from practice ². The alert goes out at the latest within three days of the decision and covers the period of the restriction ². Authorities must send an alert within three days of a court finding that an applicant used falsified evidence of qualifications ².

The professional must be told in writing at the same time, may appeal under national law, and alerts are deleted within three days after the restriction ends or is revoked ².

Finding out if a job is regulated

Your Europe says a profession is regulated if you must hold a specific degree, sit special exams such as state exams, or register with a professional body before practising ⁵. For professions with automatic recognition, authorities must acknowledge receipt within one month and decide within three months of receiving the papers ⁵. A language test or membership of a professional association may still be required ⁵.

The European Commission runs a database of regulated professions ⁴. It covers all EU countries, EEA countries and Switzerland, with statistics on professionals moving abroad and on temporary mobility, and an interactive map ⁴. The 2013 directive required member states to notify their lists of regulated professions by 18 January 2016 ².

Partial access is a further option. A host state may grant access to part of a profession case by case when the professional is fully qualified at home and the differences are too large to bridge ². The person then works under the home title ².