EN Official Journal of the European Union C 152/6

Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 5 April 2011 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Symvoulio tis Epikratias (Greece)) — Christina Ioanni Toki v Ipourgos Ethnikis Pedias Thriskevmaton

(Case C-424/09) (1)

(Directive 89/48/EEC - Points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 3 - Recognition of higher education diplomas - Environmental engineer - Activity deemed to be a regulated professional activity - Applicable mechanism of recognition - Meaning of ‘professional experience’)

2011/C 152/09

Language of the case: Greek

Referring court

Symvoulio tis Epikratias

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Christina Ioanni Toki

Defendant: Ipourgos Ethnikis Pedias Thriskevmaton

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Simvoulio tis Epikratias — Interpretation of Article 4(1)(b) of Council Directive 89/48/EEC of 21 December 1988 on a general system for the recognition of higher-education diplomas awarded on completion of professional education and training of at least three years’ duration (OJ 1989 L 19, p. 16) — Interpretation of Article 1(3) of Directive 2001/19/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2001 amending Council Directives 89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC on the general system for the recognition of professional qualifications and Council Directives 77/452/EEC, 77/453/EEC, 78/686/EEC, 78/687/EEC, 78/1026/EEC, 78/1027/EEC, 80/154/EEC, 80/155/EEC, 85/384/EEC, 85/432/EEC, 85/433/EEC and 93/16/EEC concerning the professions of nurse responsible for general care, dental practitioner, veterinary surgeon, midwife, architect, pharmacist and doctor (OJ 2001 L 206, p. 1) — Access to or pursuit of a regulated profession under the same conditions as nationals — Profession of environmental engineer — Meaning of ‘professional experience’

Operative part of the judgment

1. Point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 3 of Council Directive 89/48/EEC of 21 December 1988 on a general system for the recognition of higher education diplomas awarded on completion of professional education and training of at least three years’ duration (OJ 1989 L 19, p. 16), as amended by Directive 2001/19/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2001, must be interpreted as meaning that the mechanism of recognition which it provides for is applicable where, in the Member State of origin, the profession at issue falls under the second subparagraph of Article 1(d) of that directive, irrespective of whether the person concerned is or is not a full member of the association or organisation concerned.

2. Before account can be taken, for the purposes of point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 3 of Directive 89/48, as amended by Directive 2001/19, of professional experience relied on by a person seeking to obtain authorisation to pursue a regulated profession in the host Member State, the following three conditions must be satisfied: — the experience relied on must consist of full-time work for at least two years during the previous ten years; — that work must have consisted of the continuous and regular pursuit of a range of professional activities which characterise the profession concerned in the Member State of origin, but that work need not have encompassed all those activities, and — the profession, as it is normally pursued in the Member State of origin, must be equivalent, in respect of the activities which it covers, to the profession which the person has sought authorisation to pursue in the host Member State.

(1) OJ C 24, 30.1.2010.