EC publishes European map of regulated professions
9 May 2014 03:46 PM
The European Commission
has published a European map of regulated professions - those professions to
which access is conditional upon the possession of specific qualifications or
for which the use of a specific title is protected, e.g. pharmacists or
architects.
This interactive map gathers
together the most important information on how professions are regulated in the
different Member States, such as the number of regulated professions and their
breakdown by sector of the economy, the trend in the number of recognition
decisions since 2005, and details of the national contact points responsible
for informing professionals about the procedures and formalities to be
completed in order to obtain recognition of professional qualifications. The
map is a graphic depiction of the information which has just been updated by
the Member States in the database of regulated professions in
Europe.
Internal Market and Services
Commissioner Michel Barnier explained that "the European map of regulated
professions is a transparency tool which provides an overview of the situation
on regulated professions in the Member States and the Union as a whole. A
careful examination of the map reveals the diversity of approaches adopted by
Member States to protect their public interests by regulating certain
professions. These approaches reflect different realities, sensitivities and
regulatory backgrounds, but they are also the cause of obstacles to the free
movement of qualified professionals. The added value of this map is that it
provides us with a visual representation of these obstacles and allows us to
direct our efforts towards the sectors and professions where the modernisation
of the legislative environment is likely to have the greatest
effect."
Background
The updating of the Directive on
the recognition of professional qualifications, one of the priorities
identified in the Single Market Act published in April 2011, was recently
completed when Directive 2013/55/EU entered into force on 17 January
2014.
Article 59 of the amended
Directive requires Member States to provide the Commission with a list of their
regulated professions and undertake an assessment of the justification and
proportionality of the rules in place.
The Communication of 2 October
2013 sets out an ambitious work plan for the Commission and the national
administrations participating in the mutual evaluation, covering a period of
two years. In terms of specific results, the Member States will be required to
publish action plans, based on the European map of regulated professions,
describing the measures they will take in order to resolve possible problems
identified during the mutual evaluation and modernise their legislative
environments. The Commission will then draw up a report evaluating the Member
States’ plans with the aim of ensuring that the process will lead to
specific measures.
European map of regulated
professions:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/regprof/index.cfm?acti
on=map