WRITTEN QUESTION P-1326/98

by Rolf Berend (PPE) to the Commission

(24 April 1998)

Subject: Mutual recognition of teaching diplomas in the EU

Is a German teaching diploma recognised as a full qualification in the EU and are the holders of such diplomas entitled to work as teachers in other EU Member States?

Does this also apply to teachers working in the new German Federal Länder who acquired their diplomas in the former GDR and have decades of practical experience to draw on?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(22 June 1998)

A number of legal instruments concerning the recognition of diplomas have been adopted at Community level so as to facilitate effective exercise of freedom of movement as enshrined in the EC Treaty.

Depending on the level of qualifications certified by the diploma, one of two Directives applies: either 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(1) or Council Directive 92/51/EEC of 18 June 1992 on a second general system,(2) which covers diplomas, certificates and other evidence of education and training of a lower level than those covered by Directive 89/48/EEC. The Directives apply to all the regulated professions not covered by a specific Directive (doctors, dentists, veterinary surgeons, midwives, pharmacists, nurses, architects). Accordingly, the teaching profession, which is a regulated profession in most of the Member States (at least in the state sector), is covered by the "general system" Directives.

The fundamental principle underpinning these Directives is that the authorities of the host Member State must authorise Community nationals who have obtained the requisite diploma to take up and pursue a given profession in their home Member State to exercise that same profession in the host Member State. Such recognition thus constitutes a right to pursue a given profession under the same conditions as persons holding national qualifications, but it does not mean that the diploma is deemed equivalent to a national diploma for other purposes.

Accordingly, Community nationals who are fully qualified as teachers under the legislation of the Member State in which they obtained their qualifications and who wish to exercise their profession in another Member State are covered by the mechanisms for the recognition of diplomas set up by the aforementioned Directives.

In the case of teaching diplomas awarded by the new German Länder, to which the Honourable Member refers, the persons holding them may benefit under the Directives, in so far as the diplomas automatically entitle them to take up employment as teachers in Germany and in so far as such persons apply for recognition in order to work as teachers in another Member State.It should be noted that, under the recognition system set up by the Directives, the interested party must submit to the appropriate authority an individual application clearly specifying the profession he or she wishes to take up. This is because the Directives have not established a system of automatic equivalence between diplomas and there are always certain formalities to be complied with.

The Honourable Member will find further information on this subject on the Internet (http://citizens.eu.int) and in the guide "Working in another country of the European Union", which has been sent to him direct and to Parliament's Secretariat. This guide is accompanied by factsheets; the one entitled "Recognition of diplomas and qualifications: Teachers" contains information on the recognition systems established by Directives 89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC and a list of useful addresses at national level.

(1) OJ L 19, 24.1.1989.

(2) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992.