Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Freedom of movement for persons ° Freedom of establishment ° Workers ° Recognition of higher-education diplomas awarded on completion of professional education and training of at least three years' duration ° Scope of Directive 89/48 ° Concept of "regulated profession" ° Profession not subject to any provision governing its taking up or pursuit but in practice requiring for its pursuit a specific diploma awarded on completion of prior education and training ° Excluded

(Council Directive 89/48, Art. 1(c) and (d))

2. Freedom of movement for persons ° Freedom of establishment ° Workers ° Access to various professions ° Obligation of Member States to take into consideration diplomas, knowledge, qualifications and other evidence of qualifications acquired in the Member State of origin

(EC Treaty, Arts 6, 48 and 52)

Summary

1. Article 1(c) in conjunction with Article 1(d) of Directive 89/48 on a general system for the recognition of higher-education diplomas awarded on completion of professional education and training of at least three years' duration must be interpreted as meaning that a profession cannot be described as regulated when there are in the host Member State no laws, regulations or administrative provisions governing the taking up or pursuit of that profession or of one of its modes of pursuit, even though the only education and training leading to it consists of at least four and a half years of higher-education studies on completion of which a diploma is awarded and, consequently, only persons possessing that higher-education diploma as a rule seek employment in, and pursue, that profession. Consequently, a profession such as that of geologist in Germany cannot be regarded as regulated within the meaning of the directive.

2. Articles 6, 48 and 52 of the EC Treaty must be interpreted as meaning that when the competent authorities of a Member State receive a request to admit a person to a profession to which access, under national law, depends on the possession of a diploma or a professional qualification, they must take into consideration the diplomas, certificates and other evidence of qualifications which the person concerned has acquired in order to exercise the same profession in another Member State by making a comparison between the specialized knowledge and abilities certified by those diplomas and the knowledge and qualifications required by the national rules.

The same holds true for professional activities which are not subject by virtue of legal provision to the possession of a diploma, so far as concerns the conditions for taking them up or pursuing them. In such circumstances, the competent authorities of the host Member State responsible for classifying the nationals of other Member States, which will affect their chances of finding work on the territory of the host Member State, are required when carrying out that classification to take into consideration the diplomas, knowledge, qualifications and other evidence of qualifications that the person concerned has obtained in order to pursue a profession in the Member State of origin or from which he comes.