EPC, European Professional Card : electronic procedure for the recognition of professional qualifications.
Date: 2014-11-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for the Internal Market and Services
Subjects: expatriate worker, free movement of workers, job mobility, professional qualifications, recognition of diplomas, recognition of vocational training qualifications

EPC
European 
Professional
Card

Electronic 
procedure 
for the recognition 
of professional 
qualifications

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EPC

The European 
Professional 
Card (EPC)

What is it?

The European Professional Card 
(EPC) is an electronic procedure 
for the recognition of professional 
qualifications between countries of 
the European Union (EU). It is easier 
to manage than traditional procedures 
for recognition, and you can keep track 
of your application online. It should be 
available in 2016.

The EPC 
is not a 
physical 
card.

It is the electronic proof that  
you have passed administrative 
checks and that your professional 
qualifications have been  
recognised by the host country 
(or that you have met the 
conditions for the temporary 
provision of services).

Who can use it?
You, as a European professional, may want to work in another 
Member State to benefit from job opportunities. The Single 
Market is all about making such moves easier. The EPC will allow 
authorities in your destination country to have a quick and easy 
way to verify and recognise your qualifications obtained in another 
country.

YOU CAN USE THE EPC PROCEDURE IF:

profession there (establishment) OR

•  You want to settle in the host country and practise your 
•  You only want to provide services there temporarily 

(temporary provision of services) 

Which professions are concerned?

•  Initially, the EPC will be available for some selected, highly 

mobile professions that are among those having expressed 
their interest in it. Among those expressing interest we find 
nurses, doctors, pharmacists, physiotherapists, engineers, 
mountain guides or real estate agents for example.

•  Other professionals will have to rely on classic procedures 

for the recognition of their qualifications, but the number 
of professions able to use the EPC should increase in the 
future.

Advantages 

•  The electronic procedure will make it easier for you to 

get your qualifications recognised and your documents 
validated. Your home country authorities will check that the 
file is complete and assist you with your application.

•  If you want to make another request later to establish in 

another country, your file will already exist in the electronic 
system and you will not need to upload all the documents 
again. This will save you a lot of time for subsequent 
applications.

•  If the authorities in charge of the application do not 

take a final decision within the legal deadline, you will 
automatically receive the EPC. 

PROFESSIONALS 

ONLINE 
REQUEST

TOOLS TO APPLY  
AND FOLLOW UP  
REQUESTS FOR EPC

NATIONAL AUTHORITIES

ANALYSIS 
& CHECK

HOME COUNTRY  
AND HOST COUNTRY 
TO HANDLE  
THE REQUEST 

How to request an EPC
It will only take a few minutes to create a personal account in the 
dedicated website. 

Once you have created your account, you can submit your 
application and electronically scanned copies of the relevant 
documents.

You can submit more than one request from the same account; 
for instance, you can request that your Spanish qualifications be 
recognised both in France and in Germany. You can also modify 
requests or update information in your account.

SOME INFORMATION YOU MAY NEED  
TO PROVIDE TO REQUEST AN EPC

work experience  

•  Profession 
•  Country of professional establishment, diploma, training, 
•  How you plan to exercise the profession (i.e. via 
•  Country where you want to work (host country) 
•  Copies of required documents 

establishment or temporary provision of services)

YES

NO

NATIONAL AUTHORITIES

RECOGNITION

ESTABLISHMENT  
OR TEMPORARY MOBILITY  
IN THE HOST COUNTRY

PROCEDURE AND DEADLINES

•  Once you have submitted your application, competent 

authorities have 1 week to acknowledge receipt and tell 
you whether any documents are missing.

•  If you only want to practice your profession in the host 

country temporarily, authorities have 3 more weeks to 
check your file. 

However, if your profession could have a serious health 
or safety impact on clients / patients, authorities have 
more time to assess your application: up to 3 months.

•  If you want to settle in the host country and practise your 

profession there (establishment), authorities have a 
maximum of 3 months to assess you application – or 
2  months in the case of professions covered by the 
automatic recognition procedure.

Your home country authorities will first check your 
application. Then the host country will also examine it and 
decide whether your qualifications can be recognised. 

If the host country authorities find that your education 
and professional experience do not correspond to the 
standards required in the country, they could ask you to 
take additional steps to prove you are qualified. These are 
called compensatory measures. To comply, you should be 
able to choose between an aptitude test or an adaptation 
traineeship (which could take as long as 3 years). 

•  If the authorities do not make a decision within the legal 

deadlines, your qualifications are tacitly recognised and an 
EPC is issued.

•  If they reject your application, they have to explain why – 

and you should be able to appeal.

VALIDITY OF AN EPC

The EPC is electronic proof that the recognition procedure has been 
successfully completed (or that you comply with the conditions for 
temporary provision of services). It will be valid:

•  Indefinitely in the case of establishment;
•  For 18 months for temporary provision of services.

EPC

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EPC

Before you  
start working
After having your professional 
qualifications recognised, you 
may still have to register with 
a professional body before you 
can practice the profession. In 
some cases, national authorities 
can also ask you to prove your 
language skills or may have 
other registration requirements 
or controls in place.

 
 
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/regprof/index.cfm?action=homepage

MORE INFO ON REGULATED PROFESSIONS: 

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ISBN 978-92-79-41188-5
doi:10.2780/69970