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Commission proposal amending Directive 2005/36/EC
19 December 2011
On 19 December, the European Commission published its proposal for the revised Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications.
Areas covered by the revised Directive include proposals to introduce an alert mechanism, mandatory use of the Internal Market Information System (IMI), the introduction of a professional card and tight new recognition deadlines.
The language proposals in the Directive have also been tightened. Regulators would no longer be allowed to satisfy themselves of language proficiency before registration, despite healthcare professional regulators calling for exemptions on patient safety grounds during the consultation period.
The text also gives the EC responsibility, through delegated acts, to update the minimum training requirements for doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, midwives.
Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said the proposal will “make it easier for well qualified professionals to go where job vacancies exist. And this will certainly prove beneficial for the growth of the European economy.”
The proposal builds on a Green Paper the Commission issued in June 2011 and the text will now be forwarded to the EP and EC for scrutiny. A summary of responses to the Green Paper is available here. As one of the key priorities of the Single Market Act, the EC and European Parliament have both agreed to adopt a joint text before the end of 2012.