Recognition of Professional Qualification (Directive)

The amendments mainly focus on two areas. Firstly, the introduction of the European Professional Card validating the professional qualifications of an employee at the European level. Secondly, the existing common platforms are to be replaced by “common training principles for professions which are regulated in at least two thirds of the Member States and which are not subject to minimum training requirements. For such professions common training principles and exams are to be introduced. Trainees having passed such exams are automatically authorised to pursue the tested profession in every Member State.

cepPolicyBrief

There is an unsolvable conflict of interests between the establishment of a barrier-free labour market in the EU and maintaining high qualification levels. Facilitating the recognition of foreign diplomas in the low-level qualification sector is justifiable; the impermeability of the high-level qualification sector, however, is not. The proposed EU training principles create a systematic tendency towards quality erosion; they threaten the German dual vocational training system substantially. The EU does not have the competence to define the contents of training or testing standards. The increased requirements for the healthcare professions are met not by extending the amount of time spent in general education but by providing better vocational training.