WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3935/97 by Graham MATHER to the Commission. Right of professional tour guides to exercise their profession throughout the EU
Date: 1997-12-12
Institutions: European Parliament, MATHER
Subjects: Greece, freedom to provide services, infringement procedure (EU), mutual recognition principle, recognition of diplomas, tourist profession, tourist region

22. 6. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 196/37

(98/C 196/52)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3935/97

by Graham Mather (PPE) to the Commission

(12 December 1997)

Subject: Right of professional tour guides to exercise their profession throughout the EU

Under Directive 75/368/EEC (1), the freedom of EU citizens to provide services in respect of various activities is
established.  In  the  Annex  to  the  Directive,  activities  falling  under  (cid:145)recreation  services(cid:146)  are  included  in  the
provisions of the Directive. (cid:145)Interpreter-guides(cid:146) are also specifically referred to in the Annex. Pursuant to this
Directive,  Member  States(cid:146)  competent  authorities  issue  European  Community  Certificates  of  Experience  (or
equivalent),  upon  presentation  of  which  professional  archeological  tour  guides  are  entitled  to  exercise  their
profession at sites of interest within the Union.

Under Greek national law 273/93, however, the guiding of parties around historical sites is expressly prohibited.

1. What procedures does the Commission have in place to ensure the freedom of professional tour guides to
provide their services throughout the Union?

Is the Commission aware of this particular apparent breach of Community law, and if so what steps have

2.
been taken to redress it?

(1)  OJ L 167, 30.6.1975, p. 22.

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(2 February 1998)

Council Directive 75/368/EEC of 16 June 1975 on measures to facilitate the effective exercise of freedom of
establishment and freedom to provide services in respect of various activities (ex ISIC Division 01 to 85) and, in
particular,  transitional  measures  in  respect  of  those  activities,  to  which  the  Honourable  Member  refers,  is
applicable to couriers and interpreter-guides. This Directive expressly states that it does not apply to the activities
of tourist guides. In this respect, the Commission would refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to
Written  Question  2615/95  by  Mr  Kellet-Bowman (1)  and  would  also  draw  his  attention  to  an  earlier
communication  on  the  comparability  of  vocational  training  qualifications  between  Member  States (2),  which
makes it clear that the professional profile of a courier should not be confused with that of a tourist guide.

The Greek legislation referred to by the Honourable Member concerns the activity of tourist guides and does not,
therefore, constitute a transposal of Directive 75/368/EEC since tourist guides are expressly excluded from the
scope of that Directive. There is thus no reason to examine whether the Greek legislation in question complies
with the Directive since they do not deal with the same subject.

The Commission has already looked into the issue of obstacles to the freedom to provide tourist guide services. It
availed itself of the measures provided for in the EC Treaty (infringement proceedings under Article 169 of the
EC Treaty), which led to the judgment of 26 February 1991 by the Court of Justice (3). In this judgment, the Court
ruled that the Greek legislation on tourist guides in force at the time was incompatible with Article 59 of the EC
Treaty (freedom to provide services).

Subsequently, the Commission initiated proceedings under Article 171 of the EC Treaty for non-enforcement of
the Court judgment. In this connection, Greece notified draft decree 273/93, which it was drawing up in order to
comply  with  the  judgment.  Deeming  this  draft  to  contain  provisions  that  did  not  constitute  a  satisfactory
enforcement of the Court judgment, the Commission called upon Greece to make certain amendments. The draft
decree was amended to take into account the requests made by the Commission. Accordingly, the Commission,
at its meeting on 26 June 1997, decided to terminate the infringement proceedings against Greece.

By way of further information, the Honourable Member(cid:146)s attention is drawn to the working paper adopted by the
Commission on the question of tourist guides (4).

(1)  OJ C 72, 7.3.1997.
(2)  OJ C 320, 7.12.1992.
(3)  Case C-189/89 Commission v Greece -1991- ECR J-735.
(4)  SEC(97) 837 final.