CELEX: 51986PC0257
Language: en
Date: 1986-05-07
Title: AMENDED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON A GENERAL SYSTEM FOR THE RECOGNITION OF HIGHER EDUCATION DIPLOMAS AWARDED ON COMPLETION OF VOCATIONAL COURSES OF AT LEAST THREE YEARS' DURATION

10.6.86                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                       No C 143/7
                                                                   II
                                                        (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
              Amended proposal for a Council Directive on a general system for the recognition of higher
              education diplomas awarded on completion of vocational courses of at least three years'
                                                            duration (')
                                                       COM(86)            257final
              (Submitted by the Commission to the Council pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 149 of
                                               the EEC Treaty on 13 May 1986)
                                                          (86/C 143/04)
              0) OJNoC217, 28. 8. 1985, p. 3.
                       INITIAL PROPOSAL                                                           AMENDED PROPOSAL
                             Title                                                                      Title
Council Directive on a general system for the recognition                  Council Directive on a general system for the recognition
                of higher education diplomas                               of higher education diplomas awarded on completion of
                                                                               vocational courses of at least three years' duration
                                                   Citations unchanged
                                             First t h r e e r e c i t a l s u n c h a n g e d
                        Fourth recital                                                              Fourth recital
Whereas the objective can be achieved by the intro-                        Whereas the objective can be achieved by the intro-
duction of a general system for the recognition of higher                  duction of a general system for the recognition of higher
education diplomas;                                                        education diplomas awarded on completion of vocational
                                                                           courses of at least three years' duration;
                                         Fifth to s e v e n t h r e c i t a l s u n c h a n g e d
                         Eight recital                                                              Eight recital
Whereas, moreover, in addition to conditions relating to                   Whereas, moreover, the general system for the
the professional qualifications necessary to the pursuit of                recognition of higher education diplomas is not intended
a professional activity, conditions relating to personal                   either to modify the rules applicable to any person
qualities such as good repute may be imposed if required                   pursuing a professional activity in the territory of a
in the host Member State;                                                  Member State or to exclude migrants from the
                                                                           application of those rules; whereas that system is confined
                                                                           to providing special arrangements to enable migrants to
                                                                           comply in a different manner with the professional rules
                                                                           of the host Member State, including those relating to
                                                                           professional ethics;
                         Ninth recital                                                              Ninth recital
Whereas, Articles 49, 57 (1) and 66 of the Treaty                          Whereas, Articles 49, 57 (1) and 66 of the Treaty
empower the Community to adopt provisions necessary                        empower the Community to adopt the provisions
to introduce and operate such a system for the general                     necessary for the introduction and operation of such a
recognition of higher education diplomas;                                  system;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 143/8                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                               10. 6. 86
                      INITIAL PROPOSAL                                                                 AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                         T e n t h and eleventh recitals u n c h a n g e d
                          Article 1                                                                        Article 1
For the purposes of         this   Directive     the     following          For the purposes of             this   Directive   the following
definitions shall apply:                                                    definitions shall apply:
(a) higher education diploma: any diploma, certificate or                   (a) higher education diploma: any diploma, certificate,
    other evidence of formal qualifications awarded by a                         or other evidence of formal qualifications awarded in
    university or other higher education establishment                           recognition of vocational study at the level of
    following a course of at least three years' study                            university or non-university higher education by a
    open, as a general rule, only to persons holding a                           competent authority of a Member State, following a
    certificate awarded on successful completion of a full                       course of at least three years' duration open, as a
    course of upper secondary education;                                         general rule, only to persons holding a certificate
                                                                                 awarded on successful completion of a full course of
                                                                                 upper secondary education;
                                                  P o i n t s (b) and (c) u n c h a n g e d
(d) period of supervised practice for the purpose of                        (d) period of supervised practice for the purpose of
     qualification adjustment: the pursuit of a profession                        qualification adjustment: the pursuit of a profession
     in the host Member State under the supervision of a                          in the host Member State under the supervision of a
     qualified member of that profession, it being                                qualified member of that profession, it being
     understood that such supervised practice may be                              understood that such supervised practice may be
     accompanied by a period of further training and                              accompanied by a period of further training. This
     shall be subject to rules laid down by the host                              period of supervised practice shall form the subject of
     Member State.                                                                an assessment relating to the work performed by the
                                                                                  person under supervision. The detailed rules shall be
                                                                                  laid down by the host Member State.
                           Article 2                                                                       Article 2
This Directive shall apply to any national of a Member                      This Directive shall apply to any national of a Member
State wishing to pursue a profession in a host Member                        State wishing to pursue a profession in a host Member
State as an employed person or in a self-employed                            State as an employed person or in a self-employed
capacity.                                                                    capacity who has not benefited from recognition of his
                                                                            professional qualifications under other provisions of
This Directive shall not apply to professions which are                      Community law.
the subject of a Directive establishing arrangements for
the mutual recognition of higher education diplomas by
Member States.
                                                           Article 3 unchanged
                           Article 4                                                                       Article 4
                                                     P a r a g r a p h 1 (a) u n c h a n g e d
                                         P a r a g r a p h 1 ( b ) , first i n d e n t u n c h a n g e d
                        Second indent                                                                    Second indent
    where, in the case referred to in Article 3 (a), the                         where, in the case referred to in Article 3 (a), the
    profession as regulated in the host Member State                             profession as regulated in the host Member State
    covers a range of professional activities differing in                        covers a range of professional activities differing in
    part from those regulated in the Member State from                           part from those regulated in the Member State from
    which the applicant comes and that difference                                which the applicant comes and that difference
    corresponds     to a specific          higher         education               corresponds to a specific                higher  education
    programme required only in the host Member State;                             programme required only in the host Member State
                                                                                  and covering subjects which differ substantially from
                                                                                  those covered by the higher education diploma or
                                                                                  diplomas adduced by the applicant;
 ---pagebreak---  10.6.86                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                N o C 143/9
                        INITIAL PROPOSAL                                                  AMENDED PROPOSAL
                        Third indent                                                       Third indent
     where, in the case referred to in Article 3 (b), the          — where, in the case referred to in Article 3 (b), the
     profession as regulated in the host Member State                  profession as regulated in the host Member State
     covers a range of professional activities differing in            covers a range of professional activities differing in
     part from those pursued by the applicant in the                   part from those regulated in the Member State from
     Member State from which he comes, and that                        which the applicant comes and that difference
     difference corresponds to a specific higher education             corresponds to a specific higher               education
     programme required in the host Member State and                   programme required only in the host Member State
     not covered by the higher education diploma or                    and covering subjects which differ substantially from
     diplomas adduced by the applicant;                                those covered by the higher education diploma or
                                                                       diplomas adduced by the applicant;
                      Paragraph 1 (c)                                                    Paragraph 1 (c)
(c) to undergo the period of supervised practice required          (c) to undergo the period of supervised practice required
     in the host Member State, or provide evidence of                  in the host Member State of any person who has
     having completed in another Member State a period                 newly received authorization to pursue the profession
     of professional experience equal in duration to that              in question, unless he is able to provide evidence of
     required period of supervised practice where the host             having completed in another Member State a period
     Member State makes the taking up or pursuit of a                  of professional experience equal in duration to that
     profession subject to possession of a certificate                 required period of supervised practice.
     awarded on completion of a period of supervised
     practice undergone after the required higher
     education diplomas have been obtained.
                                                  Paragraph 2 unchanged
                          Article 5                                                          Article 5
The provisions of Article 3 and Article 4 (1) (b) and (c)          The provisions of Article 3 and Article 4 (1) (b) and (c)
shall also apply where the host Member State makes the             shall also apply where the host Member State makes the
taking up or pursuit of a profession subject to possession         taking up or pursuit of a profession subject to possession
of one or more diplomas which are not higher education             of one or more diplomas which are not higher education
diplomas within the meaning of this Directive but are              diplomas within the meaning of this Directive.
awarded on completion of a course of study open as a
general rule only to persons holding a certificate
awarded on successful completion of a full course of
upper secondary education.
                          Article 6                                                          Article 6
1.     Where a host Member State requires of its                   1.    Where a host Member State requires of persons
nationals wishing to take up or pursue a profession proof          wishing to take up a profession proof that they are of
of good character, good repute, proof that they have not           good character or repute or that they have not been
previously been declared bankrupt or proof of any one              declared bankrupt, or suspends or prohibits the pursuit of
of these, that State shall accept as sufficient evidence, in       that profession in the case of persons convicted of certain
respect of nationals of other Member States, the                   criminal offences or breaches of professional discipline,
production of an extract from the 'judicial record' or,            that State shall accept as sufficient evidence, in respect of
failing this, an equivalent document issued by a                   nationals of Member States wishing to pursue that
competent judicial or administrative authority in another          profession in its territory, the production of documents
Member State showing that those requirements are met.              issued by competent authorities in the Member State
                                                                   from which the foreign national comes showing that
                                                                   those requirements are met.
Where the Member State from which the foreign                      Where the documents referred to in the first subpara-
national comes does not issue the documents referred to            graph cannot be issued by the Member State from which
in the preceding paragraph, they may be replaced by a              the foreign national comes, they shall be replaced by a
declaration on oath — or, in States where there is no              declaration on oath — or in States where there is no
provision for such declaration, by a solemn declaration            provision for such declaration, by a solemn declaration
— made before a competent judicial or administrative               — made before a competent judicial or administrative
authority or, where appropriate, a notary in the host              authority or, where appropriate, a notary in the host
country.                                                           country.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 143/10                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                       10.6.86
                      INITIAL PROPOSAL                                                        AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                   Paragraph 2 unchanged
3.    The documents and certificates referred to in                     3.     Host Member States may require that the
paragraphs 1 and 2 may not be presented more than                       documents and certificates referred to in paragraphs 1
three months after their date of issue.                                 and 2 are presented no more than three months after
                                                                        their date of issue.
                                                   Paragraph 4 unchanged
                          Article 7                                                               Article 7
1.    Host Member States shall recognize the right of                   1.     Host Member States shall recognize the right of
nationals of Member States who fulfil the conditions for                nationals of Member States who fulfil the conditions for
the taking up and pursuit of a profession in their                      the taking up and pursuit of a profession in their
territory to use their lawful academic title and, where                 territory to use their lawful academic title and, where
appropriate, the abbreviation thereof. If the said                      appropriate, the abbreviation thereof. If the said
academic title can be confused with an academic title                   academic title can be confused with an academic title
conferred in the host Member State, the latter may                      conferred in the host Member State, the latter may
require that it be followed by the name and location of                 require that it be followed by the name and location of
the establishment or examining board which awarded it.                  the establishment or examining board of the country
                                                                        which awarded it.
2.    Host Member States shall recognize the right of                   2.    Host Member States shall recognize the right of
nationals of Member States who fulfil the conditions for                nationals of Member States who fulfil the conditions for
the taking up and pursuit of a profession in their                      the taking up and pursuit of a profession in their
territory to use the same professional title as their own               territory to use the professional title corresponding to
nationals.                                                              that profession.
                          Article 8                                                               Article 8
                                                   Paragraph 1 unchanged
2.    The procedure for examining an application to                     2.    The procedure for examining an application to
pursue a profession shall be completed as soon as                       pursue a profession shall be completed as soon as
possible and the outcome communicated in a reasoned                     possible and the outcome communicated in a reasoned
decision of the competent authority in the host Member                  decision of the competent authority in the host Member
State not later than three months after presentation of all             State not later than three months after presentation of all
the documents relating to the person concerned, without                 documents relating to the person concerned. A right of
prejudice to delays resulting from any appeal that may                  appeal shall lie to the courts of the host Member State in
be made upon the termination of that procedure.                         accordance with the national law of that State.
                          Article 9                                                               Article 9
1.    The Member States shall designate, within the                     1.    The Member States shall designate, within the
period provided for in Article 11, the competent auth-                  period provided for in Article 11, the competent auth-
orities empowered to receive the applications and take                  orities empowered to receive the applications and take
the decisions referred to in this Directive. They shall                 the decisions referred to in this Directive. They shall
communicate this information to the other Member                        communicate this information to the other Member
States and to the Commission.                                           States and to the Commission.
                                                                        They shall establish arrangements enabling the represen-
                                                                        tatives of the professions concerned and of higher
                                                                        education establishments to take part in the decision-
                                                                        making process.
                                             P a r a g r a p h s 2 an d 3 u n c h a n g e d
                                             A r t i c l e s 1 0 and 11 u n c h a n g e d
 ---pagebreak---  10.6.86                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                   N o C 143/11
                      INITIAL PROPOSAL                                                      AMENDED PROPOSAL
                          Article 12                                                            Article 12
Five years at the latest following the dates specified in               Five years at the latest following the date specified in
Article 11, the Commission shall report to the Council                 Article 11, the Commission shall report to the Council
on the state of application of the general system for the               and to the European Parliament on the state of
recognition of higher education diplomas.                               application of the general system for the recognition of
                                                                       higher education diplomas awarded on completion of
                                                                       vocational courses of at least three years' duration.
After conducting all necessary consultations, the                      After conducting all necessary consultations, the
Commission shall, on this occasion, present its                        Commission shall, on this occasion, present its
conclusions as to any changes that need to be made to                  conclusions as to any changes that need to be made to
the system as it stands.                                               the system as it stands.
                                                  A r t i c l e 13 u n c h a n g e d