Ski instructors set to win battle for level piste

Date: 10/10/1996

By Simon Coss

QUALIFIED ski instructors from across the EU will no longer face problems working in France, according to both Paris and the European Commission.

At the end of last year, the Commission threatened France with legal action in the European Court of Justice if it did not agree to recognise the validity of skiing qualifications issued in other member states.

But hopes are now high that the obstacles will be overcome before this year's season begins.

“Negotiations with the French are going well and we are confident that the problem will be resolved before the next skiing season,” said an aide to Internal Market Commissioner Mario Monti this week.

The view from the French camp is equally upbeat.

“The issue will be resolved in a matter of days,” said one government official, adding that talks were going well and all of the Commission's worries had been addressed.

“It is important for everyone, including the French authorities, that this question is cleared up before the next season begins, and we are sure that it will be,” she added.

Until now, ski instructors from other member states have found it extremely difficult to work in France, as authorities there have persistently refused to recognise their diplomas.

“We agree on the need for high standards. However, in our view, the French position is more about protecting jobs than protecting standards,” said Bob Kinnaird, of the British Association of Ski Instructors (BASI).

Kinnaird believes that as the market in skiing holidays has contracted following the boom of the mid-to-late Eighties, the French have sought to protect the their own ski instructors' jobs by setting unreasonable targets for teachers from other EU member states.

The association says that it invited French observers to comment on all aspects of its current training programme for ski instructors.

The French did not raise any objections at the time, but wrote to the BASI months later saying that UK standards were not up to scratch.

But Kinnaird insists: “We are definitely not lagging behind the French when it comes to standards. Last year, people who had already passed French slalom tests were failing our technical tests.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kinnaird seems more cautious than the Commission and Paris about the outcome of the current talks.

“Until we see the revised legislation on the French statute books, we will remain sceptical,” he said, adding: “We have been caught out like this before.”

The Commission was asked to look into the problem last year and concluded that France's action contravened single market rules on the mutual recognition of qualifications.

In July 1995, the Commission wrote to Paris formally notifying the government of the problem. By December, it had received no reply, triggering a 'reasoned opinion' from the Commission threatening court action if the situation did not change within 40 days.

“If we see there really is no hope, we still have the option to go to Court,” said an official, “But at the moment, there is no need for that as things seem to be moving.”

In a separate action, the Commission seems to have jumped the gun in sending a reasoned opinion to Italy concerning the recognition of diplomas for tour guides.

The opinion was dispatched in July because a law passed at national level in February had not been transposed into regional legislation. Recognition of tour guides' qualifications is a matter for regional government in Italy.

However, shortly after sending its opinion, the Commission discovered that the law would automatically become applicable at regional level six months after being passed in Rome.

“Perhaps we were a little premature,” admitted one official, sheepishly.

The Commission is now satisfied that Italy complies with EU rules for tour guides and no further action is planned.