WRITTEN QUESTION E-3536/03 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Problems with the recognition of educational and professional qualifications in France.
Date: 2003-11-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: France, access to a profession, free movement of workers, recognition of diplomas, recognition of vocational training qualifications, social worker, traineeship

C 78 E/578

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

(2004/C 78 E/0610)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3529/03

by Claude Moraes (PSE) to the Commission

(28 November 2003)

Subject: Amnesty International and Oxfam report on arms control

Has the European Commission seen or does it have any plans to respond to the report by Amnesty
International and Oxfam entitled ‘Shattered Lives: The Case for Tough International Arms Control’?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(6 January 2004)

The Commission has received a copy of the report which it has acknowledged.

Member States have up to now, on the basis of Article 296 (ex-Article 223) of the EC Treaty exempted the
trade in arms from the scope of application of treaty rules. Thus, there is for the time being no
Community legislation on trade in arms. The arms trade is currently considered in the context of the
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), to which the Commission is fully associated.

The Commission is active in broader Union work against the spread of small arms. The report refers to a
number of Union initiatives and projects. The Union recognises the need for continued action and has
earmarked substantial funds for the provision of financial and technical assistance to programmes around
the world implemented by the Commission. In May 2003, moreover, a EUR 2 million small arms project
in Tanzania was financed from the European Development Fund. Similar projects in African, Caribbean
and Pacific countries may be supported upon request by recipient countries.

In this context, the Commission will carefully examine the steps proposed in the report.

The Commission has assured the authors of its continued support of their goal of a safer future for all.

(2004/C 78 E/0611)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3536/03

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(28 November 2003)

Subject: Problems with the recognition of educational and professional qualifications in France

Social service graduates from various EU Member States, namely Portugal, Spain and Germany, living in
France and wishing to follow their profession there, are faced with the French authorities’ refusal to
recognise their qualifications without further ado.

Instead, the authorities demand that the graduates do a six-month unpaid traineeship, and be registered
with a teaching institution, for which they themselves have to pay. Thereafter, they are subject to an
assessment, without which, the Ministry of Social Affairs will not authorise them to work professionally in
France.

What measures are planned to make the freedom of movement of workers a reality within the European
Union, and resolve the issue of the equivalence of educational and professional qualifications?

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/579

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(20 January 2004)

Directives 89/48/EEC (1) and 92/51/EEC (2) are not based on the coordination of training arrangements or
conditions governing access to the professions covered by them. In accordance with Articles 149 and 150
of the EC Treaty, each Member State remains free to regulate (or not) a given profession and to specify the
level and content of the training required in order to be eligible to carry on this profession in that Member
State. These directives could not therefore put in place a system of automatic recognition of diplomas.

These directives lay down that the host Member State is entitled to ask that a migrant take an aptitude test
or complete an adaptation period not exceeding three years when the education and training he/she has
received covers matters which differ substantially from those covered by the diploma required in the host
Member State. The host Member State must, however, allow the migrant to choose between the aptitude
test and the adaptation period. The directives lay down that the adaptation period shall be the subject of
an assessment, and that the detailed rules governing the adaptation period, its assessment and the status of
the migrant undergoing this period shall be determined by the competent authorities in the host Member
State in accordance with Community law.

The Commission has no knowledge of problems concerning the recognition of qualifications held by social
service graduates in France. It would ask the Honourable Member to forward any complaints she has
received on this matter so that it can examine them and take appropriate action.

(1) 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, OJ L 19,
24.1.1989.

(2) Council Directive 92/51/EEC of 18 June 1992 on a second general system for the recognition of professional

education and training to supplement Directive 89/48/EEC, OJ L 209, 24.7.1992.

(2004/C 78 E/0612)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3542/03

by Caroline Lucas (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(28 November 2003)

Subject: GMOs

Commission document (1) (cid:1) Information note concerning forthcoming decisions on GMOs and GM food,
feed and seed (cid:1) (Brussels, 13.10.2003), notes on page 5, paragraph 4, that: ‘23 GM maize varieties are
inscribed in national catalogues (French, Dutch and Spanish) and are awaiting inscription into the
Common Catalogue of agricultural plant species (Directive 2002/53/EC)’.

Would the Commission therefore please state:

1.

2.

the name of each variety and which GM line they are each derived from?

the national seed list on which each is currently inscribed?

(1) SEC(2003) 1131.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(20 January 2004)

A table listing the information requested concerning the 23 genetically modified (GM) maize varieties
inscribed in national catalogues awaiting inscription into the Common Catalogue of agricultural plant
species, as mentioned in Commission document (1),
is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to
Parliament’s Secretariat.

(1) SEC(2003) 1131.