WRITTEN QUESTION P-0273/03

by Evelyne Gebhardt (PSE) to the Commission

(30 January 2003)

Subject: Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the recognition of professional qualifications

The new proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the recognition of professional qualifications(1) is to be welcomed. This piece of legislation is in the interest of all European citizens, since it represents a further step towards bringing about the free movement of workers within the EU. The Commission has also succeeded in including in its draft directive matters relating to consumer protection and safeguarding the quality of training.

In Germany, nevertheless, a degree of uncertainty remains as regards safeguarding the quality of training in particular. More and more people have complained to me that the new directive impinges on the powers of the Member States. Among other things, it is claimed that the directive will extend responsibility for training in trades,

which in Germany rests exclusively with master craftsmen, to all self-employed tradesmen. Is it correct that, under the new European legislation on the recognition of professional qualifications, people who are not qualified as master craftsmen will also be permitted to offer training in the various trades?

(1) COM(2002) 119 OJ C 181 E, 30.7.2002, p. 183.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(25 February 2003)

It has to be emphasised that neither the existing Directives nor the proposal for a consolidated Directive give migrant professionals the right to bear the title of master craftsman (Meister) unless they have passed the requisite examinations.

As regards the Honourable Member's question concerning the right to train apprentices, this has to be considered in the light of the rules governing establishment, in that the temporary or occasional provision of a service does not in practice allow scope for training apprentices on the territory of the host Member State.

With regard to establishment, the proposal incorporates the acquis communautaire in respect of craft, industrial and commercial activities currently governed by Directive 1999/42/EC(1), which provides for two alternative recognition mechanisms, namely the non-automatic recognition of training qualifications and automatic recognition based on the professional experience of the applicant.

Concerning the possibility of apprenticeship training being provided by migrant professionals established in Germany, a distinction has to be made between the two existing levels of qualification for the craft trades in Germany: on the one hand the Gesellenprüfung (journeyman's examination), which is taken at the end of an apprenticeship, and on the other the Meisterprüfung (master craftsman' examination) organised by the crafts chamber on the basis of an evaluation of a master's piece. While the first part of training is provided partly during the exercise of the trade and is thus covered by rules relating to professional recognition, the second part falls under the purview of the crafts chamber, whose obligation is limited to observing the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of nationality.

As far as the training of apprentices for the journeyman's examination is concerned, it should be stressed that it is incumbent on the authorities of the host Member State in question to check whether an applicant is qualified to exercise this activity in his or her home Member State. Two situations are liable to arise:

The competent German authority receives an application for automatic recognition on the basis of professional experience of the migrant concerned. If this professional experience includes the provision of apprenticeship training in the home Member State, the German authority cannot refuse access to this activity on its territory. However, if a migrant cannot provide proof of such professional experience regarding the provision of apprenticeship training in the home Member State, Article 4(3) of the proposal for a Directive will enable the German authorities to limit the migrant's access solely to craft activities proper, to the exclusion of those comprising the provision of apprenticeship training.

The competent German authority receives an application for recognition of a formal qualification. If the training course followed and, as the case may be, completed by the migrant in the home Member State endows him or her with the necessary qualifications for training apprentices, there will be no justification for refusing access to this activity in the host Member State. If, however, the training undergone by the migrant did not enable him or her to obtain the requisite qualifications for the provision of apprenticeship training, or if he or she has acquired such qualifications only in part and the qualifications lacking have not been obtained elsewhere (e.g. by way of professional experience), the host Member State will be entitled to require the migrant concerned to make up, by means of an adaptation period or aptitude test, any difference in substance which may exist between the training undergone in the home Member State and that required in the host Member State. Only where the specific characteristics and autonomous nature of the activity in question render a compensatory measure inoperative could Article 4(3) of the proposal result in the migrant's access being limited solely to craft activities proper, to the exclusion of those comprising the provision of apprenticeship training.

(1) Directive 1999/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 June 1999 establishing a mechanism for the recognition of qualifications in respect of the professional activities covered by the Directives on liberalisation and transitional measures and supplementing the general systems for the recognition of qualifications OJ L 201, 31.7.1999.