Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:426
Date: 1999-09-16
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Right of establishment
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment 
Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Restrictions arising 
from the legislation of the Member State of establishment on the exercise of certain 
activities — Situation not regulated by a directive on mutual recognition of diplomas — 
Obligation of the Member State to compare the diplomas and qualifications required by 
national law with those obtained by the person concerned 
(EC Treaty, Arts 52 and 57 (now, after amendment, Arts 43 EC and 47 EC)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-238/98 
Article 52 of the Treaty (now, after amend­
ment, Article 43 EC) is to be interpreted as 
meaning that where, in a situation not 
regulated by a directive on mutual recogni­
tion of diplomas, a Community national 
applies for authorisation to practise a 
profession access to which depends, under 
national law, on the possession of a 
diploma or professional qualification, or 
on periods of practical experience, the 
competent authorities of the Member State 
concerned must take into consideration all 
the diplomas, certificates and other evi­
dence of formal qualifications of the person 
concerned and his relevant experience, by 
comparing the specialised knowledge and 
abilities certified by those diplomas and 
that experience with the knowledge and 
qualifications required by the national 
rules. 
That interpretation is merely the expression 
in individual cases of a principle which is 
inherent in the fundamental freedoms of 
the Treaty. While that principle was indeed 
applied in cases concerning professions for 
the practice of which there were no har­
monisation or coordination measures in 
existence at the time, its legal ambit cannot 
be reduced as a result of the adoption of 
directives on mutual recognition of diplo­
mas. The object of such directives is to 
make it easier for persons to take up and 
pursue activities as self-employed persons, 
and hence to make the existing possibilities 
of taking up those activities easier for 
nationals of other Member States. 
The function of directives which lay down 
common rules and criteria for mutual 
recognition of diplomas is thus to introduce 
a system in which Member States are 
obliged to accept the equivalence of certain 
diplomas and cannot require the persons 
concerned to comply with requirements 
other than those laid down by the relevant 
directives, and where the requirements set 
out in the directives are satisfied, that 
recognition renders superfluous the recog­
nition of the diplomas under the above 
principle. However, that principle remains 
relevant in situations not covered by such 
directives. 
(see paras 24, 31 to 34, 40 and 
operative part) 
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