Brussels, 22/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 22 June, the European Commission published a Green Paper which aims to modernise the system for the recognition of professional qualifications. The proposals in the Green Paper are subject to assessment by a public consultation which will remain open until 20 September. The objective is to bring Directive 2005/36/EC on professional qualifications into line “with the new conditions of 2011”, in other words using new technologies, such as the internet, to respond to a tense employment situation in Europe, Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services, recommended. By means of the various routes envisaged, the Commission wishes to respond to the main problems faced by people wishing to carry out a profession in another member state. These problems, which were identified in the public consultation of January 2011, relate mainly to the requirement to supply a great many documents and certificates as part of procedures which are often long and convoluted. This Green Paper proposes a number of courses of action to make worker mobility within the EU easier. These solutions are based around three axes.
Creation of a professional card. To make it easier to check the qualifications of workers by the various authorities and administrations of the member states, a European professional card could be set in place. Although a card of this kind already exists in the 2005 directive, the automatic recognition of qualifications applies only to certain professions, such as the medical profession, veterinary surgeons and architects. The scope of application of this card could be extended on a voluntary basis and may also be attached to the internal market information system (IMI). The targeted result is greater worker mobility, with only 2.4% of Europeans living in a member state other than their country of origin.
Common platforms. For people not enjoying mutual recognition rather than automatic recognition, Commissioner Barnier proposes “creating a common platform with criteria agreed upon to assess the respective qualifications” to put an end to requirements for tests or periods of practising under supervision. Platforms of this kind could be created with the participation of 1/3 of the member states of the EU, instead of 2/3 as proposed by the initial directive.
New minimum training requirements. In order to reinforce the system of automatic recognition of qualifications, new requirements would be brought in, more specifically for the healthcare and architecture professions. New rules would determine the duration and content of training, which would create greater confidence on the part of employers towards foreign professionals.
These proposals aim to “make the single market work better” in order to “go and find the growth that there is in this large market of 500 million consumers, 22 million businesses”, said Michel Barnier. Mobility, he argued, is one of the most effective solutions in meeting ever-increasing demand for highly qualified workers, who are often unequally distributed within the EU. (J.K./transl.fl)