Regulated profession

1. Have you examined whether the requirements under your national legal system are
directly or indirectly discriminatory on the basis of nationality or residence?

The regulations to access and practise the profession of a decorator in Spain are non-discriminatory on the basis of either nationality or residence.

2. Which of the following overriding reasons relating to the general interest justifies the measure(s)?

Protection of consumers and recipients of services
Protection of the environment and the urban environment, including town and country planning
Preservation of cultural, historical, archaeological and artistic heritage

3. What specific risks or benefits have you identified that your measure(s) is designed to, respectively, minimise or maximise?

Please try to be specific in describing the nature of the risks/benefits you have identified
Where you have selected more than one overriding reason relating to the general interest in question 2 please be sure to address each of these in your response. Wherever possible please include evidence.

Referring to the previous answer, Spanish legislation is attempting to maximise building safety, respect for urban planning and the protection of the professional title and professional activities.

The measures also aim at minimising personal risks, fraud and counterfeiting, possible damage to buildings under protection and trying to assure clients a good-quality professional service. A membership in a professional association assures that professional qualifications and training have been successfully verified.

4. How specifically do your measures operate to minimise the risk(s) or maximise the benefit(s) identified in question 3?

When addressing this question please try to explain how the measures prevent the risks or guarantee the benefits.
Where you have selected more than one overriding reason relating to the general interest in question 2 please be sure to address each of these in your response. Wherever possible please include evidence.

Specific mandatory professional training protects service recipients.

5. In so far as you are able, please provide information that you have gathered regarding the concrete effects of the measure(s).

   For example, through impact assessments or information gathered during implementation or review of a measure. Member States who have recently undergone reforms may in particular be able to contribute helpfully to this field. Where you are able to provide cost-benefit analyses this would be particularly valuable.
   Information on whether the measures indeed successfully prevented risks from being realised (e.g. the number of sanctions imposed, a drop in transgressions since the measure was introduced or consequences from previous modifications of the regulation) would equally be helpful.
   Where you have selected more than one overriding reason relating to the general interest in question 2 please be sure to address each of these in your response. You may also wish to include evidence on consumer satisfaction or other measurements of the impact.

In the course of the last 30 years, there has been a large number of court rulings that focus on the necessary training and qualification requirements of decorators.

6. Is the general interest objective you indicated in question 2 pursued in a consistent and systematic manner?.

In approaching your response to this question please consider examples where you have addressed similar risks for comparable professions, not necessarily within the same sector. Is the approach you have adopted in this particular profession comparable or distinct from such similar cases and why?

The general regulations that cover not only decorators but all professions as a whole seek to protect the general interest and could be interpreted as having been applied in a regular and systematic manner.

7. Please explain in how far the degree of complexity or the nature of the activities
which are reserved justify that these activities can be exclusively performed by professionals possessing a specific professional qualification?

For example: when the tasks are essentially of a straightforward nature (such as preparing and printing pay slips etc.), or involve essentially the execution of instructions, specific professional aptitudes should not be required.

The professional activities of a decorator are not subject to exclusivity, as they could be shared with and practised by any member belonging to the Professional Association of Architects and/or Technical Architects, according to Royal Decree 119/1973, of February 1st, on regulated professions.

8. Where you have indicated several measures in place in the screening tab,
have you reviewed the cumulative effect of all these measures on professional activities?

If not, why not?
If yes, please outline for us how you approached assessing this issue as well as the results and conclusions or any learning you drew from this. Where possible please include evidence.

No further comments.

9. Have you considered the use of alternative mechanisms to achieve your objective(s)?

Other, please specify

Please briefly explain. Where you have selected more than one option, please be sure to address each of these in your response.

By making use of voluntary certification schemes, reducing the level of qualification requirements and the scope of reserved activities, introducing title protection, creating reserved activities to neighbouring professions and continuing the application of the existing measures/regulations, our objectives shall be successfully achieved.

10. Conclusion

Following your internal examination of this regulated profession, which of the following have you concluded?

Decorador (Spain)

Proportionality information