Initial agreement is reached on EU rules on professional mobility

EU institutions have hammered out an initial agreement on a directive that would make it easier for EU doctors to practise in other European countries.

Full details of the directive on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications are not yet available, but the deal is understood to cover all the substantive proposals set out in the draft directive in December 2011.12

The draft directive agreed by the European parliament, the Council of Ministers (representing the member states), and the European Commission will allow the UK General Medical Council to test whether doctors from the EU who are seeking to practise in the UK speak adequate English.

The draft also provides for an alert system so that EU member countries have to warn each other within three days when a doctor has been convicted of a crime or subjected to disciplinary sanctions. Another key element is the introduction of a European professional card, which would allow simple and speedy recognition of doctors’ qualifications in countries around the EU.

Michel Barnier, the EC commissioner responsible for the internal market and services, said that modernisation of the directive was an “important measure” in relaunching Europe’s economy. “In creating a more efficient system for recognition of professional qualifications, it will contribute to dealing with the labour shortage in Europe and will come to the aid of highly qualified job seekers, in particular the young,” he said.

Before it can become law the deal must be formally approved by the Council Committee of Permanent Representatives and the European parliament’s internal market and consumer protection committee. The directive will then be voted upon by the full European parliament in September.

Elisabetta Zanon, director of the NHS Confederation’s European Office, said that the provisional deal had taken account of many of the concerns that had been raised about the directive.

One such concern was the number of years doctors needed to spend in training for their qualifications to be recognised around the EU. The directive originally proposed that doctors should spend six years in training before receiving a full licence to practise, but this requirement has now been reduced to five years. The initial proposal would have threatened graduate medical programmes in the UK, where students study at university for four years and spend one year in foundation training before receiving a licence to practise.

“We need health professionals to be able to move around Europe freely and use their expertise in other countries, but patient safety must be our first priority,” said Zanon. “NHS organisations must be confident that European staff who come to work in the UK have been properly checked and that their qualifications, experience, and other credentials are up to date and meet minimum standards.”