The recognition of professional qualifications laid down in Directive 2005/36/EC enables the free movement of professionals such as doctors or architects within the EU. Other professions such as sailors or aircraft controllers do not fall under Directive 2005/36/EC and are governed by specific legislation. Special laws also exist for lawyers and commercial agents.
The professions falling under the directive are nurses, midwifes, doctors (general practitioners and specialists), dental practitioners, pharmacists, architects and veterinary surgeons.
Directive 2005/36/EC applies in general to regulated professions unless otherwise stated. A non-exhaustive list of professions covered by Directive 2005/36/EC is available in the database of regulated professions.
Directive 2005/36/EC does not apply to professions for which the recognition of professional qualifications is governed by specific legal provisions.
These professions are sailors, statutory auditors, insurance intermediaries and aircraft controllers, as well as some other professions in transport or those linked to activities involving toxic products.
The specific directives for lawyers and commercial agents are also presented in this section.
In March 2019 a delegated regulation established the common training test for ski instructors (CTT).
The CTT helps instructors who have passed the test to work across the EU without burdensome administrative procedures. It introduces automatic recognition of their qualifications while guaranteeing an adequate level of training and skills. Instructors holding a relevant qualification can undergo a ‘Eurotest’ and ‘Eurosecurity test’, which test their technical abilities and safety-related competences.
The delegated regulation was developed in close consultation with organisations representing ski instructors from all interested EU countries, in addition to the experience gathered from the memorandum of understanding pilot project. This project started in 2012 between 11 EU countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and United Kingdom).
The delegated regulation neither harmonises national training nor imposes additional regulation on EU countries. It creates an additional and voluntary scheme of automatic recognition for ski instructors across the EU. Ski instructors not covered by the CTT still benefit from the general system for mutual recognition of qualifications enshrined in the revised professional qualifications directive.
Directive 2006/123/EC on services and Directive 2005/36/EC on professional qualifications are complementary instruments dealing with different matters. Consequently, for matters not relating to professional qualifications, the 'services directive' applies to those regulated professions that fall within its scope.