EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/133

(2004/C 78 E/0135)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2605/03

by Elizabeth Lynne (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 August 2003)

Subject: Recognition of qualifications for language teachers

Is the Commission aware that a British teacher of English having all adequate qualifications and teaching experience in the United Kingdom is required to pass the CAPES exam (Certificat d'aptitude pédagogique à l'enseignement du second degré, a very difficult exam, particularly for a foreigner) in order to be able to have a full-time teacher position in the French education system?

Would this not be in contravention of Council Directive 89/48/EEC (1) of 21 December 1988 on a general system for the recognition of higher education diplomas awarded on completion of professional education and training?

Is the proposed Directive on recognition of professional qualifications (2) going to eliminate this anomaly, particularly since French teachers are able to teach in the United Kingdom without such an additional examination?

Supplementary answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(9 January 2004)

The Commission has carried out an analysis of the consequences of the Court of Justice's judgment of 9 September 2003 in Case C-285/01 ‘Isabel Burbaud’ as to the recruitment in the French public service of fully qualified teachers from other Member States. The judgment concerns hospital managers. In France, hospital managers in the public service are subject to a recruitment competition which gives access to a period of training at the ‘École nationale de la santé publique’ before candidates are permanently appointed to a post. The Court has held that it is contrary to Community law that fully qualified hospital managers from other Member States sit a competition like the one referred to in the judgment. The Court observed that the specific features of this method of recruitment, which does not take account of specific qualifications in the field of hospital management obtained by candidates who are nationals of other Member States, place those nationals at a disadvantage and are liable to dissuade them from exercising their rights, as workers, to freedom of movement.

The Commission considers that, in principle, this case-law may extend to teachers, as they are also recruited in the French public service by means of a competition which gives access to a period of training at the ‘Instituts Universitaires de Formation des Maîtres’.

It is important to note that the Court has not ruled out the possibility to require properly qualified candidates from other Member States to sit a competition for recruitment in the public service. The Court has held that this requirement does not infringe Directive 89/48/EEC, since the Directive does not concern the choice of selection and recruitment procedures for filling positions and cannot be relied on as the basis for a right to be recruited. The Court has however excluded that properly qualified migrants can be required to pass a competition for admission to a course of training. Consequently, the Commission considers that France will have to amend its recruitment system as regards qualified teachers from other Member States. The Commission will contact the French authorities with a view to ensuring that France complies with the Court's jurisprudence.

The proposal for a new directive on the recognition of professional qualifications does not contain any provision regarding this matter.

(1) OJ L 19, 24.1.1989, p. 16.

(2) COM(2002) 119 final.