Brussels, 07/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has taken action against France, Greece and Spain to correct breaches of EU law on professional qualifications.
France: 1) The Commission has decided to refer France to the Court of Justice in relation to France's provisions on the freedom to provide services for professionals benefiting from automatic recognition of their formal qualifications. The Commission considers, more particularly, that the conditions established under French legislation concerning the temporary provision of services by doctors, dentists and midwives established in another Member State are unduly restrictive. The directives establish a simplified procedure requiring the practitioner to make a declaration in advance concerning the provision of services. The arrangement is problematic in France in that migrants are required to make a declaration for each service or for each patient, while providing a service to a patient is limited to a stay of two days in France - restrictions which prevent the professionals concerned from freely providing their services and which France failed to justify in its response to the reasoned opinion (final warning). 2) The Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to France for its breach of Community legislation on the general system for the recognition of diplomas by refusing to allow canyoning guides from other Member States to exercise this activity in France on the grounds that in France this activity can only be practised by mountain guides, potholers or mountaineering instructors. The Commission acknowledges that this arrangement could have been put in place to protect consumers, but considers that it is too restrictive and calls for changes from the French authorities, for example, requiring canyoning guides to display the professional or training qualification of their Member States of origin. 3) The Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to France for breaching Community rules on the general system for the recognition of diplomas. France refuses to allow German and British snowboard instructors to teach this discipline in France on the grounds that this activity can only be taught by ski instructors. As with the preceding case, the Commission recognises that the measure could have been put in place to protect consumers, but considers it to be too restrictive.
Greece: 1) The Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Greece for failing to adapt its legislation on the opening of optician outlets. New Greek legislation continues to reserve ownership of such shops to registered opticians. The Commission considers this to be a restriction on the freedom of establishment in Greece of firms from other Member States because they can never be sole owners of an optician outlet. 2) The Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Greece for its failure to comply with Community rules on the mutual recognition of doctors' diplomas concerning the conditions for granting diplomas for general practitioners. Since 1st January 1995, doctors who wish to practise as general practitioners under a national social security scheme must provide a diploma attesting to specific training in general medicine. General practitioners in practice prior to this date have acquired rights to continue to practise without such a diploma and benefit from automatic recognition in the other Member States if they provide a certificate issued by the Member State attesting to the fact that they benefit from the acquired rights in question. Greece, however, issues doctors benefiting from acquired rights with the diploma attesting to specific training in general medicine without their having attended the corresponding training.
Spain: The Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Spain for its failure to transpose the directive on the general system for the recognition of diplomas in relation to the profession of hospital pharmacist. Spain elected to transpose this directive by adopting a decree that applied to regulated professions and included an exhaustive list of them, without including the profession of hospital pharmacist.