Brussels, 09/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - Five member states (Austria, Belgium, France, Greece and Luxembourg) have not fully transposed Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of qualifications needed for the exercise of over 800 professions, when it should have been completed by the end of October 2007 at the latest. This result can be seen on the scoreboard on implementation of this legislative act published by the European Commission on Wednesday 9 December, as well as a practical manual intended for professionals on their rights and obligations. The delay incurred by the five member states has already been ruled against by the European Court of Justice.
Directive 2005/36/EC facilitates the crossborder provision of services by replacing the earlier system for verification of qualifications with a simple ex ante declaration on the part of the professionals concerned. Member states may continue to demand verification of qualifications for regulated professions linked to health and public security. All member states except Belgium and Spain apply provisions on the crossborder provision of services. They all require a prior declaration (data not available for Greece), but nine member states (Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Sweden, Slovenia and Slovakia) do not impose it for all professions. Prior verification for health and security related professions remain in force throughout the EU. (M.B./transl.jl)