Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2003:88
Date: 2003-02-11
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Right of establishment;Free movement of workers
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

SUMMARY — CASE C-285/01 
Summary of the Judgment 
1. 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 — 
Employment in the public service — Included 
(EC Treaty, Art. 48(4) (now, after amendment, Art. 39(4) EC); Council Directive 
89/48) 
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 — 
Definition of 'regulated profession — National legal classifications not relevant 
(Council Directive 89/48) 
3. 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 — Directive 89/48 — 
Definition of 'diploma' — Passing the final examination of a national public health 
college of a Member State — Included — Equivalence of such a diploma and a 
diploma obtained in another Member State — Assessment to be made by the national 
court 
(Council Directive 89/48, Art. 3, first para., point (a)) 
4. Freedom of movement for persons — Workers — Access to hospital public service 
conditional, for persons holding a diploma obtained in a Member State and equivalent 
to that required in the host Member State, on passing an entrance examination for a 
national public health college — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 48 (now, after amendment, Art. 39 EC)) 
1. Employment in the public service falls 
in principle within the scope 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' duration, except 
where it is covered by Article 48(4) of 
the Treaty (now, after amendment, 
Article 39(4) EC) or by a separate 
directive establishing arrangements for 
the mutual recognition of diplomas by 
Member States. 
(see para. 39) 
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BURBAUD 
2. The fact that under national law a 
particular post in the public service is 
governed by special public service rules 
is not relevant for the purposes of 
determining whether that post is a 
regulated profession within the mean­
ing of Directive 89/48 on a general 
system for the recognition of higher-
education diplomas awarded on com­
pletion of professional education and 
training of at least three years' dur­
ation. The definition of a regulated 
profession is a matter of Community 
law, whereas the national legal classifi­
cations of worker, employee and public 
servant or, moreover, of employment 
governed by public law or by private 
law can be varied freely by national 
legislatures and cannot therefore pro­
vide an appropriate criterion for inter­
pretation. 
(see paras 42-43) 
3. Confirmation of passing the final 
examination of the national public 
health college of a Member State, 
which leads to permanent appointment 
to the hospital public service of that 
Member State, must be regarded as a 
diploma 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' duration. It is for the 
national court to determine, for the 
purposes of applying point (a) of the 
first paragraph of Article 3 of that 
directive, whether a qualification 
obtained in another Member State by 
a national of a Member State wishing 
to pursue a regulated profession in the 
host Member State can be regarded as 
a diploma within the meaning of that 
provision and, if so, to determine the 
extent to which the training courses 
whose successful completion leads to 
the award of those diplomas are similar 
with regard to both their duration and 
the matters covered. If it is apparent 
from that court's examination that 
both qualifications constitute diplomas 
within the meaning of that directive 
and that those diplomas are awarded 
on the completion of equivalent edu­
cation or training, the directive pre­
cludes the authorities of the host 
Member State from making access by 
that national of a Member State to the 
profession of manager in the hospital 
public service subject to the condition 
that he complete the training given by 
the national public health college and 
pass the final examination at the end of 
that training. 
(see para. 58, operative part 1) 
4. Any national measure which, although 
applicable without discrimination on 
grounds of nationality, is liable to 
hamper or to render less attractive the 
exercise by a national of a Member 
State of the freedom of movement of 
workers, is an obstacle to that funda­
mental freedom guaranteed by the 
Treaty. The requirement of passing an 
examination in order to take up 
employment in the public service can­
not in itself be regarded as an obstacle 
in that sense. Inasmuch as all new jobs 
are, in principle, subject to the recruit-
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SUMMARY — CASE C-285/01 
ment procedure provided for those 
jobs, the requirement of passing a 
recruitment competition in order to 
take up employment in the public 
service of a Member State cannot in 
itself be liable to dissuade candidates 
who have already sat a similar compe­
tition in another Member State from 
exercising their right to freedom of 
movement as workers. 
However, where a national of a 
Member State holds a diploma 
obtained in one Member State which is 
equivalent to the diploma required in 
another Member State in order to take 
up employment in the hospital public 
service, Community law precludes the 
authorities of the second Member State 
from making that national's access to 
the employment in question subject to 
his passing the entrance examination of 
that Member State's public health 
college, where passing that examin­
ation is a precondition for being 
admitted to the training course at that 
college which is, in turn, a precondition 
for access to the employment con­
cerned. 
(see paras 95-97, 101, 112, 
operative part 2) 
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