WRITTEN QUESTION E-3856/98

by Cristiana Muscardini (NI) to the Commission

(4 January 1999)

Subject: Freedom of movement for sports coaches

1. Is it true that the Italian Government (through the Italian National Olympics Committee, sports academies and technical bodies) discriminates against its own people and against sports professionals by preventing them from practising freely both within Italy and in Europe as a whole on account of the fact that the relevant law decrees have not yet been revised in accordance with Community Directives 89/48(1) and 92/51(2), which were due to be implemented by June 1994?

2. Is it true that the Italian National Olympics Committee has a monopoly on sports training courses (including courses financed by the European Social Fund) and that the national sports federations do not ensure that their courses correspond to the five levels laid down in the rules agreed at the European Council held in Milan in 1985?

3. Is it true that certain Italian sports institutes, promotional bodies, private schools and sporting associations issue diplomas from the Central Sports Academy relating to the training of highly qualified technicians (secondary education plus three years' professional experience in accordance with EU rules) and sports instructors, thus enabling them to work either as salaried professionals or on an independent basis?

4. If the answers to the above questions are in the affirmative, what action does the Commission intend to take in order to ensure that the situation is brought into line with the principles and rules laid down in Community law?

Answer by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(23 February 1999)

The honourable Member refers primarily to Directives 89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC. Council Directive 89/48/EEC of 21 December 1988 implemented a general system for the recognition of higher-education diplomas awarded on completion of professional education and training of at least three years' duration. This Directive was supplemented by Council Directive 92/51/EEC of 18 June 1992 on a second general system for the recognition of professional education and training. The latter Directive deals with diplomas which were not covered by Directive 89/48/EEC. The qualifications for sports instructors are covered, with certain exceptions, by Directive 92/51/EEC. Under the general system for the recognition of diplomas, a person who is fully qualified to exercise a profession in one Member State must, in principle, be able to exercise that profession in another Member State.

Italy, like all the other Member States, had to bring its legislation in line with these directives. Until now, the Commission has not been made aware of any particular difficulty in the recognition of diplomas for sports instructors in Italy.

It should be stressed that these directives apply only when there is a cross-border element, in other words, when a person who has been awarded a qualification in another Member State (whether this person be Italian or a national of another Member State) wishes to have this qualification recognised for the purposes of working in Italy. The mechanisms implemented by these directives do not cover the situation of persons trained in Italy and wishing to work there, which is a purely domestic matter.

In addition, the Commission cannot impose on Italy specific measures for regulating the profession. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the Member States are legally sovereign as regards regulations on professions. As a result, certain professions exist in some Member States, but not in others. Sometimes even the same name will represent different professions. By the same token, the training qualifications required to enter into the same profession can also vary. The Commission is therefore not in a position to intervene in the way in which Italy regulates the profession of sports instructor on its own territory. However, the Italian authorities do, of course, have a duty to implement mechanisms for recognising diplomas and to abolish any measure that could be considered to be discriminatory.

The honourable Member also mentions the five training levels established by Council Decision 85/368/EEC of 16 July 1985 on the comparability of vocational training qualifications between the Member States(3). However, the aim of this Decision was to encourage, not force, the Member States to implement a similar system. Article 2 of the Decision stipulates that the structure of training levels covered in the annex may be used. It also states that "the text of the said structure is attached to this Decision for information purposes". The Italian authorities are therefore entitled to either implement or reject the proposed structure as they see fit.

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

(2) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992, p. 25.

(3) OJ L 199, 31.7.1985.