The Commission has launched an assessment of the actual state in the field of regulated professions

The European Commission today launched an assessment of the actual state in the field of so-called regulated professions.

These are professions that require special qualifications or titles such as pharmacists, welders, librarians, architects, and a number of others, with medical services excluded from this assessment. The area of medical services is subject to separate regulation and is excluded due to its complexity and sensitivity. According to Commission data, there are about 740 such professions at the level of the European Union, accounting for nine percent of total European GDP and employing over 26 million people. 

The purpose of the initiative, the Commission notes, is not to force member states into legal changes, especially not further deregulation, but to carry out a joint, transparent assessment of the situation and obtain a clear picture of the issues from member state to member state. Although there are a number of very justified restrictions on practicing certain professions, experience has also pointed to unnecessary restrictions that member states cannot actually explain, which prevent access to these professions for young people or foreigners and adversely affect the level of employment and competitiveness of these industries. The ultimate goal of conducting this assessment of barriers to regulated professions would be to reduce regulation where justified or possible and thereby increase labor mobility in the common market as well as overall competitiveness. However, this is about encouraging member states to reach conclusions and possibly react through conducting the assessment themselves; the Commission does not intend to impose solutions or adopt further binding regulations within this plan. 

According to Commissioner for Competition Michel Barnier, ‘despite great efforts, the mobility of professionals in the European Union is very low.’ The conditions for access to certain professions are very complicated, extensive, and inconsistent between member states, he added. For these reasons, and as part of this assessment, each member state will have to create and then report a list of regulated professions, which the Commission will then publish. Thanks to this European map of regulated professions, every worker who wants to work in a member state will be able to see what the conditions are in each member state for their profession. 

Restrictions usually relate either to access (qualifications and reserved activities, certification, title protection) or to other restrictions such as tariffs or membership in certain professional associations. The assessment will therefore determine whether the current solutions make sense, achieve the desired goals, have any unwanted consequences, and whether there are alternative ways to achieve the desired effects. 

After the assessment is completed, member states should present national action plans in April 2015 and June 2016. The role of the Commission is, based on the requests of the Council and Parliament, as well as on the revision of the Directive on Professional Qualifications planned for the end of the year, to propose a methodology and work plan for conducting a joint assessment.