Green Paper – Modernising the Professional Qualifications Directive

EU citizens providing a wide range of professional services to consumers and business are essential stakeholders in our economy. Gaining employment or providing services in another Member State is a concrete example of how they can benefit from the Single Market. It has long been recognised that restrictive regulation of professional qualifications has the same stifling effect on mobility as discrimination on the grounds of nationality. Recognition of qualifications obtained in another Member State has thus become a fundamental building block of the Single Market.

Burdensome and unclear procedures for the recognition of professional qualifications were identified in the EU Citizenship Report 2010 as one of the main obstacles EU citizens still encounter in their daily lives when exercising their rights under EU law across national borders. A modernisation would also strenghthen the position of the European Union in international trade negotiations making regulatory convergence easier, and allowing the EU to obtain better market access in third countries for EU citizens.

To take full advantage of the freedom of movement, professionals must have their qualifications easily recognised in other Member States. It is therefore essential that the Professional Qualifications Directive sets out clear and simple rules for the recognition of professional qualifications. At the same time, the rules must ensure high quality of services without themselves becoming an obstacle to mobility.

In March 2010, the Commission launched an evaluation of the Directive which mobilised many stakeholders: around two hundred competent authorities drew up experience reports in 2010 and around four hundred participants gave their views in a public consultation in early 2011. The Green Paper builds on this evaluation. It presents new ideas for facilitating mobility in the Single Market, such as the European Professional Card; it explores ways to build on achievements; and it sets out the options for the modernisation of automatic recognition. A broad consultation on these ideas will help the Commission to assess the various options for the modernisation of the Professional Qualifications Directive.

A legislative proposal to modernise the Directive is planned for the end of 2011.

United Kingdom: BIS: European Commission Green Paper: Modernising the professional qualifications Directive: UK Government response, September 2011 http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/europe/docs/e/11-1297-ec-green-paper-professional-qualifications-directive-uk-response

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)367: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:367:FIN

---