16 February 2004

European Parliament votes on mutual recognition directive

The European Parliament has voted on the draft directive on the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) supported amendments that may require health and social care professionals to register with the relevant competent authorities when working in a host member state.

MEPs have tightened up Brussels plans for the EU-wide recognition of professional qualifications.

The European Parliament on Wednesday supported proposals aimed at allowing workers free movement across Europe.

A range of professionals - from doctors, engineers, and architects to pharmacists and accountants – will find it easier to find to work abroad with the new EU rules removing red tape which causes difficulties with the recognition of qualifications.

But medical groups had raised concerns over moves to allow doctors to practice within the EU for 16 weeks without registering with national health authorities. And MEPs voted to scrap these provisions.

The original draft Directive would have allowed healthcare professionals from any EU country to work for up to four months per year, every year, in the UK, without being registered with a UK regulator. In practice, this would have meant that if there was a problem with the care a person received, the UK regulators would have no powers to take action against the professional in question. There would also be no means of preventing the same problem from happening again with another patient.

The Legal Affairs Committee's November vote changed the text to ensure that all healthcare professionals may be required to register with the relevant regulatory body, in whichever state they were working.

Socialist MEP Arlene McCarthy welcomed the outcome of the vote: "Without being forced to register disgraced medics - who might have been struck off national registers for negligence or even criminal acts - could have upped sticks and simply moved to another country. We want free movement of labour, but we don't want the dangerous, the criminal and the disqualified given a right to roam."

John Bowis, a UK Conservative MEP said, “Many amendments affecting the health professions have been accepted”.

“We have ensured that professionals treating patients have to meet appropriate and consistent standards, including language competence.”

Another area of contention in the original European Commission proposal, COM/2002/119, was a provision allowing a worker with qualifications required in one EU country access to the same profession in a second European country, even if the qualification required there was set at a higher level.

MEPs also rejected this proposal, arguing that access to a profession should be set at the same level to prevent “qualification shopping”.

More information
http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/qualifications/