WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2700/98 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Dispute between Italy and the Commission regarding stomatological and orthodontic care
Date: 1998-09-01
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: EU law - national law, European Commission, Italy, appeal to the Court (EU), dental medicine, dentist, medical specialisation, professional society, recognition of diplomas, right of establishment

14.5.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 135/99

(1999/C 135/117)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2700/98

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(1 September 1998)

Subject: Dispute between Italy and the Commission regarding stomatological and orthodontic care

Prior to 1980, the year in which the first degree courses in dentistry were introduced (also the year in
which the EC directives came into force) offering places on a strictly limited and selective basis, in some
medical schools dentistry was regarded as the Cinderella of medical specialisations. It now appears,
however, that all the doctors registered on the register of dentists (30 000 in Italy) must be removed on the
grounds that they do not satisfy the requirements of the Community directives.

With reference to the so-called ‘doctor directives’, Directives 75/362/EEC (1) and 75/363/EEC (2) which
regulate the recognition of doctors’ qualifications, their right of establishment and right to practise, among
other things, as specialists in odontostomatology, can the Commission say whether, from a legal point of
view, it meant by this anything other than ‘activities involving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
...(...)... the teeth, mouth, jaws ...’ carried out by doctors?

A precise answer would be appreciated because in Italy the interpretation of this legislation has the
potential to cause unpleasant professional problems and to have harmful repercussions, not least in the
legal sphere.

For the purpose of further clarification, can the Commission also say whether the so-called ‘dentist
directives’, Directives 78/686/EEC (3) and 78/687/EEC (4) of 25 July 1978, have the legal authority to
regulate, directly or indirectly, the activities of doctors in the Member States?

(1) OJ L 167, 30.6.1975, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 167, 30.6.1975, p. 14.
(3) OJ L 233, 24.8.1978, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 233, 24.8.1978, p. 10.

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2698/98, E-2699/98 and E-2700/98
given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(27 October 1998)

According to the information available to the Commission, Spain is the only Member State apart from
Italy where dental practitioners covered by the ‘dentists’ Directives 78/686/EEC and 78/687/EEC (namely
‘licenciados in odontología’) and doctors specialising in stomatology belong to the same professional
body (‘Colegio de Odontólogos y Estomatólogos’). The Commission wishes to point out, however, that
the Spanish and Italian situations are not comparable, since in Spain doctors specialising in stomatology
belong exclusively to the above-mentioned professional body, while non-specialist doctors have never
been able to practise dentistry as their main activity, since this is prohibited by national legislation. As
regards legislation in France and Luxembourg, the Commission is not aware of any regulations such as
those mentioned by the Honourable Member.

Directives 78/686/EEC and 78/687/EEC on dental practitioners, the purpose of which is the creation of a
specific profession of dentist as distinct from that of doctor, group certain activities under the professional
title of ‘dental practitioner’. These directives were interpreted by the Court of Justice in its judgment of
1 June 1995 in case C-40/93 Commission v Italy (1). It follows from this judgment that, in order to have the
right to practise dentistry, the dental practitioner must possess one of the qualifications referred to in
Article 2 of Directive 78/686/EEC, unless expressly covered by the exemption provided for in the
directive − including Article 19 relating to Italy − and that the Member States may on no account create
categories of dental practitioner which do not correspond to any of the categories provided for by the
directives concerned. Thus the Court ruled that, by deferring, by Law No 471 of 31 October 1988, until the
1984/1985 academic year, with regard to diplomas in medicine and surgery, the final date set in Article 19
of Directive 78/686/EEC, Italy failed to fulfil its obligations under these directives, since at the time when
Directives 78/686/EEC and 78/687/EEC obliging Italy to create the specific profession of dentist were