Article 46 Training of architects
1. Training as an architect shall comprise a total of at least four years of full-time study or six years of study, at least three years of which on a full-time basis, at a university or comparable teaching institution. The training must lead to successful completion of a university-level examination. That training, which must be of university level, and of which architecture is the principal component, must maintain a balance between theoretical and practical aspects of architectural training and guarantee the acquisition of the following knowledge and skills: (a) ability to create architectural designs that satisfy both aesthetic and technical requirements; (b) adequate knowledge of the history and theories of architecture and the related arts, technologies and human sciences; (c) knowledge of the fine arts as an influence on the quality of architectural design; (d) adequate knowledge of urban design, planning and the skills involved in the planning process; (e) understanding of the relationship between people and buildings, and between buildings and their environment, and of the need to relate buildings and the spaces between them to human needs and scale; (f) understanding of the profession of architecture and the role of the architect in society, in particular in preparing briefs that take account of social factors; (g) understanding of the methods of investigation and preparation of the brief for a design project; (h) understanding of the structural design, constructional and engineering problems associated with building design; (i) adequate knowledge of physical problems and technologies and of the function of buildings so as to provide them with internal conditions of comfort and protection against the climate; (j) the necessary design skills to meet building users' requirements within the constraints imposed by cost factors and building regulations; (k) adequate knowledge of the industries, organisations, regulations and procedures involved in translating design concepts into buildings and integrating plans into overall planning. 2. The Commission may adapt the knowledge and skills listed in paragraph 1 to scientific and technical progress. That measure, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 58(3). Such updates must not entail, for any Member State, any amendment of existing legislative principles relating to the structure of professions as regards training and the conditions of access by natural persons.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Revised version (Article 46 Training of architects):
1. Training as an architect shall comprise: (a) a total of at least five years of full-time study at a university or a comparable teaching institution, leading to successful completion of a university-level examination; or (b) not less than four years of full-time study at a university or a comparable teaching institution leading to successful completion of a university-level examination, accompanied by a certificate attesting to the completion of two years of professional traineeship in accordance with paragraph 4. 3. The number of years of academic study referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 may in addition be expressed with the equivalent ECTS credits. 4. The professional traineeship referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1 shall take place only after completion of the first three years of the study. At least one year of the professional traineeship shall build upon knowledge, skills and competences acquired during the study referred to in paragraph 2. To that end, the professional traineeship shall be carried out under the supervision of a person or body that has been authorised by the competent authority in the home Member State. Such supervised traineeship may take place in any country. The professional traineeship shall be evaluated by the competent authority in the home Member State.
Article 47 Derogations from the conditions for the training of architects
1. By way of derogation from Article 46, the following shall also be recognised as satisfying Article 21: training existing as of 5 August 1985, provided by ‘Fachhochschulen’ in the Federal Republic of Germany over a period of three years, satisfying the requirements referred to in Article 46 and giving access to the activities referred to in Article 48 in that Member State under the professional title of ‘architect’, in so far as the training was followed by a four-year period of professional experience in the Federal Republic of Germany, as attested by a certificate issued by the professional association in whose roll the name of the architect wishing to benefit from the provisions of this Directive appears. The professional association must first ascertain that the work performed by the architect concerned in the field of architecture represents convincing application of the full range of knowledge and skills listed in Article 46(1). That certificate shall be awarded in line with the same procedure as that applying to registration in the professional association's roll. 2. By way of derogation from Article 46, the following shall also be recognised as satisfying Article 21: training as part of social betterment schemes or part-time university studies which satisfies the requirements referred to in Article 46, as attested by an examination in architecture passed by a person who has been working for seven years or more in the field of architecture under the supervision of an architect or architectural bureau. The examination must be of university level and be equivalent to the final examination referred to in Article 46(1), first subparagraph.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Revised version (Article 47 Derogations from the conditions for the training of architects):
By way of derogation from Article 46, the following shall also be recognised as complying with Article 21: training as part of social betterment schemes or part-time university studies which satisfies the requirements set out in Article 46(2), as attested by an examination in architecture passed by a professional who has been working for seven years or more in the field of architecture under the supervision of an architect or architectural bureau. The examination must be of university level and be equivalent to the final examination referred to in point (b) of Article 46(1).
Article 48 Pursuit of the professional activities of architects
1. For the purposes of this Directive, the professional activities of an architect are the activities regularly carried out under the professional title of ‘architect’. 2. Nationals of a Member State who are authorised to use that title pursuant to a law which gives the competent authority of a Member State the power to award that title to Member States nationals who are especially distinguished by the quality of their work in the field of architecture shall be deemed to satisfy the conditions required for the pursuit of the activities of an architect, under the professional title of ‘architect’. The architectural nature of the activities of the persons concerned shall be attested by a certificate awarded by their home Member State.
Article 49 Acquired rights specific to architects
1. Each Member State shall accept evidence of formal qualifications as an architect listed in Annex VI, awarded by the other Member States, and attesting a course of training which began no later than the reference academic year referred to in that Annex, even if they do not satisfy the minimum requirements laid down in Article 46, and shall, for the purposes of access to and pursuit of the professional activities of an architect, give such evidence the same effect on its territory as evidence of formal qualifications as an architect which it itself issues. Under these circumstances, certificates issued by the competent authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany attesting that evidence of formal qualifications issued on or after 8 May 1945 by the competent authorities of the German Democratic Republic is equivalent to such evidence listed in that Annex, shall be recognised. 2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, every Member State shall recognise the following evidence of formal qualifications and shall, for the purposes of access to and pursuit of the professional activities of an architect performed, give them the same effect on its territory as evidence of formal qualifications which it itself issues: certificates issued to nationals of Member States by the Member States which have enacted rules governing the access to and pursuit of the activities of an architect as of the following dates: (a) 1 January 1995 for Austria, Finland and Sweden; (b) 1 May 2004 for the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia; (c) 5 August 1987 for the other Member States. The certificates referred to in the first subparagraph shall certify that the holder was authorized, no later than the respective date, to use the professional title of architect, and that he has been effectively engaged, in the context of those rules, in the activities in question for at least three consecutive years during the five years preceding the award of the certificate.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Revised version (Article 49 Acquired rights specific to architects):
1. Each Member State shall accept evidence of formal qualifications as an architect listed in Annex VI, awarded by the other Member States, and attesting a course of training which began no later than the reference academic year referred to in that Annex, even if they do not satisfy the minimum requirements laid down in Article 46, and shall, for the purposes of access to and pursuit of the professional activities of an architect, give such evidence the same effect on its territory as evidence of formal qualifications as an architect which it itself issues. Under these circumstances, certificates issued by the competent authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany attesting that evidence of formal qualifications issued on or after 8 May 1945 by the competent authorities of the German Democratic Republic is equivalent to such evidence listed in that Annex, shall be recognised. 1a. Paragraph 1 shall also apply to evidence of formal qualifications as an architect listed in Annex V, where the training started before 18 January 2016. The certificates referred to in the first subparagraph shall certify that the holder was authorized, no later than the respective date, to use the professional title of architect, and that he has been effectively engaged, in the context of those rules, in the activities in question for at least three consecutive years during the five years preceding the award of the certificate. 3. Each Member State shall give the following evidence the same effect on its territory as evidence of formal qualifications it itself issues for the purposes of access to and pursuit of the professional activities of an architect: evidence of completion of training existing as of 5 August 1985 and commenced no later than 17 January 2014, provided by ‘Fachhochschulen’ in the Federal Republic of Germany over a period of three years, satisfying the requirements set out in Article 46(2) and giving access to the activities referred to in Article 48 in that Member State under the professional title of ‘architect’, in so far as the training was followed by a four-year period of professional experience in the Federal Republic of Germany, as attested by a certificate issued by the competent authority in whose roll the name of the architect wishing to benefit from the provisions of this Directive appears.
Article 50 Documentation and formalities
1. Where the competent authorities of the host Member State decide on an application for authorisation to pursue the regulated profession in question by virtue of this Title, those authorities may demand the documents and certificates listed in Annex VII. The documents referred to in Annex VII, point 1(d), (e) and (f), shall not be more than three months old by the date on which they are submitted. The Member States, bodies and other legal persons shall guarantee the confidentiality of the information which they receive. 2. In the event of justified doubts, the host Member State may require from the competent authorities of a Member State confirmation of the authenticity of the attestations and evidence of formal qualifications awarded in that other Member State, as well as, where applicable, confirmation of the fact that the beneficiary fulfils, for the professions referred to in Chapter III of this Title, the minimum training conditions set out respectively in Articles 24, 25, 28, 31, 34, 35, 38, 40, 44 and 46. 3. In cases of justified doubt, where evidence of formal qualifications, as defined in Article 3(1)(c), has been issued by a competent authority in a Member State and includes training received in whole or in part in an establishment legally established in the territory of another Member State, the host Member State shall be entitled to verify with the competent body in the Member State of origin of the award: (a) whether the training course at the establishment which gave the training has been formally certified by the educational establishment based in the Member State of origin of the award; (b) whether the evidence of formal qualifications issued is the same as that which would have been awarded if the course had been followed entirely in the Member State of origin of the award; and (c) whether the evidence of formal qualifications confers the same professional rights in the territory of the Member State of origin of the award. 4. Where a host Member State requires its nationals to swear a solemn oath or make a sworn statement in order to gain access to a regulated profession, and where the wording of that oath or statement cannot be used by nationals of the other Member States, the host Member State shall ensure that the persons concerned can use an appropriate equivalent wording.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Revised version (Article 50 Documentation and formalities):
1. Where the competent authorities of the host Member State decide on an application for authorisation to pursue the regulated profession in question by virtue of this Title, those authorities may demand the documents and certificates listed in Annex VII. The Member States, bodies and other legal persons shall guarantee the confidentiality of the information which they receive. 2. In the event of justified doubts, the host Member State may require from the competent authorities of a Member State confirmation of the authenticity of the attestations and evidence of formal qualifications awarded in that other Member State, as well as, where applicable, confirmation of the fact that the beneficiary fulfils, for the professions referred to in Chapter III of this Title, the minimum training conditions set out respectively in Articles 24, 25, 28, 31, 34, 35, 38, 40, 44 and 46. 3a. In the event of justified doubts, the host Member State may require from the competent authorities of a Member State confirmation of the fact that the applicant is not suspended or prohibited from the pursuit of the profession as a result of serious professional misconduct or conviction of criminal offences relating to the pursuit of any of his professional activities. 3b. Exchange of information between competent authorities of different Member States under this Article shall take place via IMI. 4. Where a host Member State requires its nationals to swear a solemn oath or make a sworn statement in order to gain access to a regulated profession, and where the wording of that oath or statement cannot be used by nationals of the other Member States, the host Member State shall ensure that the persons concerned can use an appropriate equivalent wording.
Article 51 Procedure for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications
1. The competent authority of the host Member State shall acknowledge receipt of the application within one month of receipt and inform the applicant of any missing document. 2. The procedure for examining an application for authorisation to practise a regulated profession must be completed as quickly as possible and lead to a duly substantiated decision by the competent authority in the host Member State in any case within three months after the date on which the applicant's complete file was submitted. However, this deadline may be extended by one month in cases falling under Chapters I and II of this Title. 3. The decision, or failure to reach a decision within the deadline, shall be subject to appeal under national law.
Article 52 Use of professional titles
1. If, in a host Member State, the use of a professional title relating to one of the activities of the profession in question is regulated, nationals of the other Member States who are authorised to practise a regulated profession on the basis of Title III shall use the professional title of the host Member State, which corresponds to that profession in that Member State, and make use of any associated initials. 2. Where a profession is regulated in the host Member State by an association or organisation within the meaning of Article 3(2), nationals of Member States shall not be authorised to use the professional title issued by that organisation or association, or its abbreviated form, unless they furnish proof that they are members of that association or organisation. If the association or organisation makes membership contingent upon certain qualifications, it may do so, only under the conditions laid down in this Directive, in respect of nationals of other Member States who possess professional qualifications.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Revised version (Article 52 Use of professional titles):
1. If, in a host Member State, the use of a professional title relating to one of the activities of the profession in question is regulated, nationals of the other Member States who are authorised to practise a regulated profession on the basis of Title III shall use the professional title of the host Member State, which corresponds to that profession in that Member State, and make use of any associated initials. 2. Where a profession is regulated in the host Member State by an association or organisation within the meaning of Article 3(2), nationals of Member States shall not be authorised to use the professional title issued by that organisation or association, or its abbreviated form, unless they furnish proof that they are members of that association or organisation. If the association or organisation makes membership contingent upon certain qualifications, it may do so, only under the conditions laid down in this Directive, in respect of nationals of other Member States who possess professional qualifications. 3. A Member State may not reserve the use of the professional title to the holders of professional qualifications if it has not notified the association or organisation to the Commission and to the other Member States in accordance with Article 3(2).
Article 53 Knowledge of languages
Persons benefiting from the recognition of professional qualifications shall have a knowledge of languages necessary for practising the profession in the host Member State.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Revised version (Article 53 Knowledge of languages):
1. Professionals benefiting from the recognition of professional qualifications shall have a knowledge of languages necessary for practising the profession in the host Member State. 2. A Member State shall ensure that any controls carried out by, or under the supervision of, the competent authority for controlling compliance with the obligation under paragraph 1 shall be limited to the knowledge of one official language of the host Member State, or one administrative language of the host Member State provided that it is also an official language of the Union. 3. Controls carried out in accordance with paragraph 2 may be imposed if the profession to be practised has patient safety implications. Controls may be imposed in respect of other professions in cases where there is a serious and concrete doubt about the sufficiency of the professional’s language knowledge in respect of the professional activities that that professional intends to pursue. Controls may be carried out only after the issuance of a European Professional Card in accordance with Article 4d or after the recognition of a professional qualification, as the case may be. 4. Any language controls shall be proportionate to the activity to be pursued. The professional concerned shall be allowed to appeal such controls under national law.
Article 54 Use of academic titles
Without prejudice to Articles 7 and 52, the host Member State shall ensure that the right shall be conferred on the persons concerned to use academic titles conferred on them in the home Member State, and possibly an abbreviated form thereof, in the language of the home Member State. The host Member State may require that title to be followed by the name and address of the establishment or examining board which awarded it. Where an academic title of the home Member State is liable to be confused in the host Member State with a title which, in the latter Member State, requires supplementary training not acquired by the beneficiary, the host Member State may require the beneficiary to use the academic title of the home Member State in an appropriate form, to be laid down by the host Member State.
Article 55 Approval by health insurance funds
Without prejudice to Article 5(1) and Article 6, first subparagraph, point (b), Member States which require persons who acquired their professional qualifications in their territory to complete a preparatory period of in-service training and/or a period of professional experience in order to be approved by a health insurance fund, shall waive this obligation for the holders of evidence of professional qualifications of doctor and dental practitioner acquired in other Member States.
Article 56 Competent authorities
1. The competent authorities of the host Member State and of the home Member State shall work in close collaboration and shall provide mutual assistance in order to facilitate application of this Directive. They shall ensure the confidentiality of the information which they exchange. 2. The competent authorities of the host and home Member States shall exchange information regarding disciplinary action or criminal sanctions taken or any other serious, specific circumstances which are likely to have consequences for the pursuit of activities under this Directive, respecting personal data protection legislation provided for in Directives 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data ( 24 ) and 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications) ( 25 ). The home Member State shall examine the veracity of the circumstances and its authorities shall decide on the nature and scope of the investigations which need to be carried out and shall inform the host Member State of the conclusions which it draws from the information available to it. 3. Each Member State shall, no later than 20 October 2007, designate the authorities and bodies competent to award or receive evidence of formal qualifications and other documents or information, and those competent to receive applications and take the decisions referred to in this Directive, and shall forthwith inform the other Member States and the Commission thereof. 4. Each Member State shall designate a coordinator for the activities of the authorities referred to in paragraph 1 and shall inform the other Member States and the Commission thereof. The coordinators' remit shall be: (a) to promote uniform application of this Directive; (b) to collect all the information which is relevant for application of this Directive, such as on the conditions for access to regulated professions in the Member States. For the purpose of fulfilling the remit described in point (b), the coordinators may solicit the help of the contact points referred to in Article 57.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Revised version (Article 56 Competent authorities):
1. The competent authorities of the host Member State and of the home Member State shall work in close collaboration and shall provide mutual assistance in order to facilitate application of this Directive. They shall ensure the confidentiality of the information which they exchange. 2. The competent authorities of the home and the host Member States shall exchange information regarding disciplinary action or criminal sanctions taken or any other serious, specific circumstances which are likely to have consequences for the pursuit of activities under this Directive. In so doing, they shall respect personal data protection rules provided for in Directives 95/46/EC and 2002/58/EC. The home Member State shall examine the veracity of the circumstances and its authorities shall decide on the nature and scope of the investigations which need to be carried out and shall inform the host Member State of the conclusions which it draws from the information available to it. 2a. For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, the competent authorities shall use IMI. 3. Each Member State shall, no later than 20 October 2007, designate the authorities and bodies competent to award or receive evidence of formal qualifications and other documents or information, and those competent to receive applications and take the decisions referred to in this Directive, and shall forthwith inform the other Member States and the Commission thereof. 4. Each Member State shall designate a coordinator for the activities of the competent authorities referred to in paragraph 1 and shall inform other Member States and the Commission thereof. The coordinators’ tasks shall be: (a) to promote uniform application of this Directive; (b) to collect all the information which is relevant for application of this Directive, such as on the conditions for access to regulated professions in the Member States; (c) to examine suggestions for common training frameworks and common training tests; (d) to exchange information and best practice for the purpose of optimising continuous professional development in Member States; (e) to exchange information and best practice on the application of compensation measures referred to in Article 14. For the purpose of carrying out the task set out in point (b) of this paragraph, the coordinators may solicit the help of the assistance centres referred to in Article 57b.
Article 57 Contact points
Each Member State shall designate, no later than 20 October 2007, a contact point whose remit shall be: (a) to provide the citizens and contact points of the other Member States with such information as is necessary concerning the recognition of professional qualifications provided for in this Directive, such as information on the national legislation governing the professions and the pursuit of those professions, including social legislation, and, where appropriate, the rules of ethics; (b) to assist citizens in realising the rights conferred on them by this Directive, in cooperation, where appropriate, with the other contact points and the competent authorities in the host Member State. At the Commission's request, the contact points shall inform the Commission of the result of enquiries with which they are dealing pursuant to the provisions of point (b) within two months of receiving them.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Article 58 
Committee procedure 1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee on the recognition of professional qualifications. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof. The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at two months. 3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to (4) and Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Revised version (Article 58 Committee procedure):
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee on the recognition of professional qualifications. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.
Article 59 Consultation
The Commission shall ensure the consultation of experts from the professional groups concerned in an appropriate manner in particular in the context of the work of the committee referred to in Article 58 and shall provide a reasoned report on these consultations to that committee.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Article 60 Reports
1. As from 20 October 2007, Member States shall, every two years, send a report to the Commission on the application of the system. In addition to general observations, the report shall contain a statistical summary of decisions taken and a description of the main problems arising from the application of this Directive. 2. As from 20 October 2007, the Commission shall draw up every five years a report on the implementation of this Directive.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Revised version (Article 60 Reports):
1. As from 20 October 2007, Member States shall, every two years, send a report to the Commission on the application of the system. In addition to general observations, the report shall contain a statistical summary of decisions taken and a description of the main problems arising from the application of this Directive. As from 18 January 2016 the statistical summary of decisions taken referred to in the first subparagraph shall contain detailed information on the number and types of decisions taken in accordance with this Directive, including the types of decisions on partial access taken by competent authorities in accordance with Article 4f, and a description of the main problems arising from application of this Directive. 2. By 18 January 2019, and every five years thereafter, the Commission shall publish a report on the implementation of this Directive. The first such report shall focus in particular on the new elements introduced in this Directive and consider in particular the following issues: (a) the functioning of the European Professional Card; (b) the modernisation of the knowledge, skills and competences for the professions covered by Chapter III of Title III, including the list of competences referred to in Article 31(7); (c) the functioning of the common training frameworks and common training tests; (d) the results of the special upgrading programme laid down under Romanian laws, regulations and administrative provisions for holders of the evidence of formal qualifications mentioned in Article 33a, as well as for holders of evidence of formal qualifications of post-secondary level, with a view to assessing the need to review the current provisions governing the acquired rights regime applicable to the Romanian evidence of formal qualifications as nurse responsible for general care. Member States shall provide all necessary information for the preparation of that report.
Article 61 Derogation clause
If, for the application of one of the provisions of this Directive, a Member State encounters major difficulties in a particular area, the Commission shall examine those difficulties in collaboration with the Member State concerned. Where appropriate, the Commission shall decide, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 58(2), to permit the Member State in question to derogate from the provision in question for a limited period.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Fast and efficient recognition of professional qualifications for access to regulated professions is key to making the fundamental internal m arket freedoms work for EU citizens. Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) sets out the rules on cross-border recognition of qualifications for access to regulated professions, as well as minimum training requirements for several professions , including nurses responsible for general care . Under the Professional Qualifications Directive, Member States are obliged, upon application by the holder and without additional conditions, to recognise the qualifications of nurses responsible for general care held by EU citizens that meet the minimum requirements under the Directive if the evidence of those qualifications is listed under the relevant annex. This evidence relates to training that started after the reference date, which usually corresponds to the EU accession date of the country in which the qualification was obtained. Furthermore, Member States are bound to recognise certain qualifications that do not meet the minimum requirements if the applicant can prove a specific number of years of professional experience, as set out under the acquired rights provisions. Lastly, for those who cannot benefit from either of these two possibilities, the general system of recognition will, in principle, apply. Under this system, if there are substantial differences between the applicant’s qualifications and those required in the host Member State that cannot be covered by knowledge and skills and competences acquired by the applicant in the course of their professional experience or through lifelong learning, the host Member State can require compensatory measures in the form of an aptitude test or an adaptation period from the applicant before granting access to the regulated profession. If the EU citizen cannot benefit from any recognition regime under Directive 2005/36/EC, the application must in principle be assessed by the host Member State under the rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Organising the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care during EU accession is a complex process. It involves adapting existing training programmes to ensure that, as of the accession date, students can only enrol in compliant training courses. Additionally, individuals who started non-compliant training before the reference date will need to meet additional requirements before they can benefit from cross-border recognition. To facilitate the recognition of qualifications of nurses responsible for general care whose qualifications did not meet the minimum training requirements upon accession, Romania has set up an upgrading programme following a recommendation introduced in recital 36 of Directive 2013/55/EU that amended Directive 2005/36/EC. Romania introduced the programme via Joint Order of the Minister of National Education and of the Minister of Health No 4317/943/2014 2 . It was endorsed by the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants and by Order of the Minist er of National Education No 5114/2014 3 . Before its launch, the content of the programme was discussed with the Commission and Member State experts. The experts analysed the training that Romania had delivered in the past at post-secondary and higher education levels to determine the extent to which they met the minimum requirements under the Professional Qualifications Directive. The upgrading courses were subsequently designed to bridge the identified gaps. To implement the upgrading programme at post-secondary level, eight ‘train the trainer’ sessions with experts from several Member States were organised between 2013 and 2014 by the Romanian Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Romanian Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants, and the National Commission of Hospitals Accreditation. The upgrading programme started in the 2014/2015 academic year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, by the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, it had been completed by 23 higher education graduates and more than 3 000 post-secondary graduates. Romania presented the implementation of the upgrading programme to Member States in the Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in March and May 2018. The Professional Qualifications Directive, as currently applicable, does not oblige host Member States to automatically recogni s e the qualifications of nurses who have successfully completed the upgrading programme. The current rules merely oblige the host Member State to consider the upgrading programme as evidence of additional skills and knowledge acquired on a case-by-case basis as part of the process of recognition under the general system. However, the Commission envisages a revision of the Directive’s acquired rights provisions for Romanian nurses following the assessment of the upgrading programme ’s results . This assessment was published in a Commission r eport on 11 May 2020 4 . The Commission is therefore proposing a targeted amendment of the rules of special acquired rights laid down in Article 33(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate the recognition process for nurses responsible for general care who have completed the Romanian upgrading programme. Namely, the Commission proposes that these nurses should benefit from recognition under special acquired rights without the need to prove professional experience.
Revised version (Article 61 Derogation clause):
If, for the application of one of the provisions of this Directive, a Member State encounters major difficulties in a particular area, the Commission shall examine those difficulties in collaboration with the Member State concerned. Where appropriate, the Commission shall adopt an implementing act to permit the Member State in question to derogate from the relevant provision for a limited period of time.
Article 62 Repeal
Directives 77/452/EEC, 77/453/EEC, 78/686/EEC, 78/687/EEC, 78/1026/EEC, 78/1027/EEC, 80/154/EEC, 80/155/EEC, 85/384/EEC, 85/432/EEC, 85/433/EEC, 89/48/EEC, 92/51/EEC, 93/16/EEC and 1999/42/EC are repealed with effect from 20 October 2007. References to the repealed Directives shall be understood as references to this Directive and the acts adopted on the basis of those Directives shall not be affected by the repeal.
Article 63 Transposition
Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 20 October 2007 at the latest. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof. When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.
Article 64 Entry into force
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Article 65 Addressees
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.