Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2003:173
Date: 2003-03-20
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Culture;Right of establishment;Approximation of laws;Free movement of workers;Anti-discrimination;Non-discrimination on grounds of nationality
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Lawyers — 
Practice of the profession on a permanent basis in a Member State other than that in 
which the qualification was acquired — Directive 98/5 — Scope — Trainee law­
yer — Not included 
(Directive 98/5 of the European Parliament and the Council) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-313/01 
2. Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Workers — 
Recognition of higher-education diplomas awarded on completion of professional 
education and training of at least three years' duration — Scope of Directive 89/48 — 
Concept of 'regulated profession — Trainee lawyer — Not included 
(Council Directive 89/48) 
3. Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Lawyers — 
Access to the profession — Enrolment of trainee lawyers in the professional 
register — Requirement of a law degree issued, confirmed or recognised as equivalent 
by the authorities of the Member State concerned — Not permissible 
(Arts 39 EC and 43 EC) 
1. Directive 98/5 to facilitate practice of 
the profession of lawyer on a perma­
nent basis in a Member State other 
than that in which the qualification 
was obtained concerns only lawyers 
fully qualified as such in their Member 
State of origin, and therefore does not 
apply to persons who have not yet 
acquired the professional qualification 
necessary to practise the profession of 
lawyer but are carrying out a period of 
practice necessary for admission to the 
bar. 
(see para. 45) 
2. A profession must be regarded as 
regulated, within the meaning of Direc­
tive 89/48, on a general system for the 
recognition of higher-education diplo­
mas awarded on completion of pro­
fessional education and training of at 
least three years ' durat ion, where 
access to, or pursuit of, the professional 
activity in question is governed by 
laws, regulations or administrative 
provisions that create a system under 
which that professional activity is 
expressly reserved for those who fulfil 
certain conditions and access to it is 
prohibited to those who do not fulfil 
them. 
However, even if it is reserved for 
persons who fulfil certain conditions 
and prohibited to those who do not, 
the period of practice necessary for 
admiss ion to the bar canno t be 
regarded as a 'regulated profession' 
within the meaning of Directive 89/48, 
since it is limited in time and is 
designed to constitute the practical part 
of the training necessary for access to 
the profession of lawyer, and, unless an 
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MORGENBESSER 
aptitude test is passed before that 
period expires, pursuit of the activities 
carried out during that period is not 
authorised. 
(see paras 49-52) 
3. Community law precludes the auth­
orities of a Member State from refusing 
to enrol the holder of a legal diploma 
obtained in another Member State in 
the register of persons undertaking the 
necessary period of practice for admis­
sion to the bar solely on the ground 
that it is not a legal diploma issued or 
confirmed by a university of the first 
State. 
Recognition, for academic and civil 
purposes, of the equivalence of a 
diploma obtained in one Member State 
may be relevant, and even decisive, for 
enrolment with the bar of another 
Member State. However, the taking 
into account of the diploma of the 
person concerned must be carried out 
in the context of the assessment of the 
whole of the training, academic and 
professional, which that person is able 
to demonstrate. In that respect, it is the 
duty of the competent authority to 
examine whether, and to what extent, 
the knowledge certified by the diploma 
granted in another Member State and 
the qualif ications or professional 
experience obtained there, together 
with the experience obtained in the 
Member State in which the candidate 
seeks enrolment, must be regarded as 
satisfying, even partially, the con­
ditions required for access to the activ­
ity concerned. 
(see paras 64, 66-67, 72, 
operative part) 
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