2007/172/EC: Commission Decision of 19 March 2007 setting up the group of coordinators for the recognition of professional qualifications

20.3.2007 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 79/38
COMMISSION DECISION
of 19 March 2007
setting up the group of coordinators for the recognition of professional qualifications
(2007/172/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Whereas:
(1) Article 3(1)(c) of the Treaty assigned the European Community and the Member States the task of abolishing obstacles to the free movement of persons and services. For the nationals of the Member States, free movement implies in particular the possibility to pursue a profession, either as a self-employed person or as an employee, in a Member State other than the one in which they have obtained their professional qualifications. Moreover, Article 47 of the Treaty aims at ensuring the free movement of fully qualified professionals in the field of professions regulated as to qualifications.
(2) Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications (1) was adopted to ensure the free movement of fully qualified professionals where the access to a profession is regulated as to qualifications by Member States. That Directive consolidates 15 existing Directives and aims at simplifying the existing regimes of recognition as well as at further facilitating the temporary provision of services. In order to implement this Directive and to develop the internal market where the professions are regulated as to qualifications, the Commission may need to call upon the expertise of specialists in an advisory body.
(3) It is therefore appropriate to set up an expert group in the field of recognition of professional qualifications and to define its tasks and its structure.
(4) The expert group should help to develop the internal market in the field of professions regulated as to qualifications.
(5) The group of coordinators for the recognition of professional qualifications should be composed of the national coordinators designated by the Member States pursuant to Directive 2005/36/EC. According to that Directive, the remit of those coordinators is to promote a uniform application of the said Directive and to collect all the information which is relevant for its application.
(6) Rules on disclosure of information by members of the group should be provided for without prejudice to the Commission's rules on security as set out in the Annex to Commission Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom (2).
(7) Personal data relating to members of the group should be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (3),