WRITTEN QUESTION P-0810/00

by Pasqualina Napoletano (PSE) to the Commission

(10 March 2000)

Subject: Situation of dentists in Italy

In 1985 Italy transposed the 1978 EU directive on dentistry by means of Law 409/85, which was to apply, inter alia, to graduates in medicine who had registered at university prior to 28/1/1980. This gab between 1978 and 1985 meant that thousands of young people took up medical studies after 1980 with the intention of becoming dentists and were retroactively denied the right to do so by the 1985 law

transposing the directive. The rights of these young medical graduates who were working as dentists were reinstated by means of Law 471/88, which was challenged by the European Court of Justice following an appeal. On 8 October 1998 the Italian Government approved a legislative decree requiring dentists who were registered at university between 1980 and 1985 to sit an aptitude test as a precondition for continuing to work as dentists despite the fact that they had already been active in the profession for 10 years.

The dentists in question feel that they are being unjustly penalised for Italy's failure to transpose the directive on time.

Replying to a question put to the Commission in November 1998, Commissioner Monti stated on 14 January 1999 that the aptitude test requirement had not been imposed by the Commission, but was the result of negotiations between the Commission and the Italian authorities.

Failure to pass the test leads to automatic exclusion from the dentists' register for qualified dentists who have been practising for more than ten years.

1. Would the Commission have any objections to tackling the problem facing these dentists by organising training and refresher courses without any selective final examination (a procedure applied to other professional persons, such as psychotherapists and lawyers Law 93/16 and general practitioners Law 277/91)?

2. More generally, does the Commission not agree that the rights of qualified dentists who have been practising for more than ten years should be properly protected?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(3 April 2000)

As stated in the reply to Mrs Muscardini's written question E-3352/98(1), which was quoted by the Honourable Member, the aptitude test as a means of recognising those medical graduates called into question by the Court of Justice judgment of 1 June 1995(2) was the result of negotiations between the Commission and the Italian authorities, held at the request of the latter. In the absence of such negotiations, and on the basis of Article 228 (ex Article 171) of the EC Treaty, Italy would have had to take all necessary measures to comply with the above judgment and, as a result, would have had simply to withdraw the licence to practise dentistry from all those involved.

The Commission has agreed to authorise the medical graduates concerned to practise dentistry notably on the basis of an aptitude test and has presented a proposal to amend to this effect Directive 78/686/EEC on the mutual recognition of dentists' qualifications(3) in view of the proposal, as part of the SLIM initiative, for a European Parliament and Council Directive of 2 December 1997(4). This proposal is being discussed by the European Parliament and the Council under the codecision procedure. This will allow these medical graduates to retain the right to practise dentistry.

(1) OJ C 182, 28.6.1999.

(2) European Court Reports 1995, page I-1319.

(3) OJ C 233, 24.8.1978.

(4) OJ C 28, 28.1.1998.