REPORTS
Non-compliance of Greece with the Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications – infringement: INFR(2022)4078
Each Member State of the European Union must fully apply EU law. The body responsible for identifying possible violations of EU law is the European Commission. Where a Member State does not apply EU law and breaches its obligations under the EU Treaties, the European Commission may open a formal infringement procedure under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU (see details on the infringement procedure here).
Directive 2005/36/EC concerns the recognition by Member States of professional qualifications obtained in other Member States for the purpose of taking up or pursuing a regulated profession in their territory. The aim of the Directive is to eliminate obstacles to the free movement of persons and services between Member States, as one of the main objectives of the Union, by guaranteeing that persons who have obtained their professional qualifications in one Member State have the same rights as its nationals as regards access to and pursuit of the same profession in another Member State.
However, as mentioned in the April infringements package, the European Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to Greece for non-compliance of its national rules with EU legislation on the recognition of professional qualifications. According to Greek legislation, professionals who have obtained qualifications as school principals and other educational staff in other Member States must obtain academic, rather than professional, recognition of their qualifications in order to be able to work in Greece. In so doing, the Greek legislation is contrary to the EU rules, which provide that a procedure for the professional recognition of professional qualifications must be applied. Since the academic recognition procedure is more burdensome than the professional recognition procedure provided for in the Directive, access to the Greek labour market for such professionals is made more difficult.
More information about this procedure and the European Commission’s decisions on the infringement in question can be found on the European Commission’s website by entering INFR(2022)4078 in the “Infringement case number” field.
The application of EU law is an obligation of the Member States of the European Union. If infringements of EU law are identified, the European Commission may take a series of actions against the Member State concerned to ensure the correct and full application of EU law by opening infringement proceedings under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU.
In this particular case, the European Commission sent a reasoned opinion calling on Greece to comply with Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications.
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