Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2008:680
Date: 2008-12-04
Language of the case: Greek
Court formation: Second Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Right of establishment;Freedom to provide services;Free movement of workers
Concepts: General
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgment Freedom of movement for persons – Freedom of establishment – Workers – Recognition of diplomas – Directive 92/51 (Council Directive 92/51, Arts 1(a), 3 and 4) Articles 1(a), 3 and 4 of Directive 92/51 on a second general system for the recognition of professional education and training to supplement Directive 89/48, as amended by Directive 2001/19, must be interpreted as meaning that the competent authorities of a host Member State are required, under Article 3 of that directive, subject to the application of Article 4 of that directive, to recognise a diploma awarded by a competent authority in another Member State even though that diploma attests to education and training received, in whole or in part, at an establishment located in the host Member State which, according to the legislation of that State, is not recognised as an educational establishment. First, Directive 92/51 does not contain any limitation as regards the Member State in which an applicant must have acquired his professional qualifications and, second, it is for the competent authorities awarding diplomas giving access to a regulated profession alone to verify, in the light of the rules applicable within the framework of their professional education and training system, whether the conditions necessary for their award are fulfilled, inter alia, those relating to the educational establishment in which the holder received his education and training. That interpretation does not cast doubt on the responsibility of the host Member State for the content of teaching and the organisation of the education system, since the diploma in question is covered, in the context of that directive, not by the host Member State’s education system but rather the education system of the Member State to which the competent authority which awarded the diploma belongs. It is, therefore, for that latter authority to ensure the quality of the training and education at issue. Furthermore, the fact that a national of a Member State who wishes to pursue a regulated profession chooses to take up that profession in his preferred Member State cannot of itself constitute an abuse of the general system of recognition laid down by Directive 92/51, and the right of nationals of a Member State to choose the Member State in which they wish to acquire their professional qualifications is inherent in the exercise, in a single market, of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the EC Treaty. (see paras 30-32, 34, operative part)