Conseil national de l'ordre des architectes v Nicolas Dreessen.
Date: 2002-01-22
23 The purpose of the present reference for a preliminary ruling is not therefore to ascertain whether, in the case in the main proceedings, the national authorities are required to recognise Mr Dreessen's diploma as being equivalent to the qualifications in architecture referred to in Directive 85/384, but to ascertain whether those authorities must examine whether Mr Dreessen's professional qualifications and experience correspond in full or in part to the requirements and conditions for access to the profession of architect in Belgium and, depending on the outcome of that examination, accord him the right to practise that profession there.
24 In that respect, the authorities of a Member State to which an application has been made by a Community national for authorisation to practise a profession, access to which depends, under national legislation, on the possession of a diploma or professional qualification or on periods of practical experience, are required to take into consideration all of the diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications of the person concerned and his relevant experience, by comparing the specialised knowledge and abilities so certified and that experience with the knowledge and qualifications required by the national legislation (see, inter alia, Vlassopoulou, paragraphs 16, 19 and 20, Case C-319/92 Haim [1994] ECR I-425, paragraphs 27 and 28, and Case C-238/98 Hocsman [2000] ECR I-6623, paragraph 23).
25 The Court has emphasised that those judgments are merely the expression in judicial decisions of a principle inherent in the fundamental freedoms of the Treaty, and that the legal effect of that principle cannot be reduced as a result of the adoption of directives on mutual recognition of diplomas (Hocsman, paragraphs 24 and 31).
26 The object of such directives is, as is apparent from Article 47(1) EC, to facilitate the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications by laying down rules and common criteria which result, as far as possible, in automatic recognition of those diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications. It is not the purpose of those directives to make recognition of such diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications more difficult in situations falling outside their scope, nor may they have such an effect.
27 It follows that Member States must comply with their obligations as regards mutual recognition of professional qualifications arising from the Court's interpretation of Articles 43 EC and 47 EC (see, in particular, Vlassopoulou, Haim and Hocsman), in examining any application for authorisation to practise a profession, access to which depends, under national legislation, on the possession of a diploma or professional qualification or on periods of practical experience, where the diploma held by the Community national is not the subject of automatic recognition under a directive on the mutual recognition of diplomas, even if such a directive has been adopted in the professional field in question.
28 It is of no consequence, in this respect, that the person concerned, albeit he can prove that he holds a diploma in a field in which a directive on mutual recognition of diplomas has been adopted, cannot avail himself of the mechanism for automatic recognition laid down by such a directive because his diploma was awarded in a third country (as was the case in Hocsman) or because, for other reasons, the conditions for the application of that mechanism are not met (as was the case in Dreessen, and in the present case).
31 The reply to the question referred for a preliminary ruling must therefore be that Article 43 EC is to be interpreted as meaning that where a Community national applies to the competent authorities of a Member State for authorisation to practise a profession, access to which depends, under national legislation, on the possession of a diploma or professional qualification or on periods of practical experience, those authorities are required to take into consideration all of the diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications of the person concerned, and his relevant experience, by comparing the specialised knowledge and abilities so certified, and that experience, with the knowledge and qualifications required by the national legislation, even where a directive on the mutual recognition of diplomas has been adopted for the profession concerned, but where application of that directive does not result in automatic recognition of the applicant's qualification or qualifications.