© European Union 2012 PE-EP
In the course of the legislative process currently underway, the UEMS was invited to present its views on how the directive should change in order to encapsulate developments in the field of medical education and training. Dr Zlatko Fras, UEMS Liaison Office and Past-President, addressed the European Parliament's committee on internal market and consumers.
Whilst the Professional Qualifications Directive is currently under revision, the UEMS was invited to contribute to the public hearing that the European Parliament's committee on internal market and consumer protection has organised in Brussels on 25th April 2012.
The directive on the recognition of professional qualifications (2005/36/EC – 2006/100/EC) was adopted in October 2005 and entered into effect two years later.
This piece of EU legislation encompasses the provisions by which specialist titles can be recognised across the EU when doctors are moving between EU countries.
This directive is currently being revised as the European Commission issued its proposal to the European Parliament and Council in December last year.
The UEMS Executive was encouraged to note that a certain number of key priorities defended during the preliminary consultations on this topic were taken into consideration in the current proposal. The UEMS is building upon its longstanding policies in order to confirm its position on this dossier which will also be the basis for its contribution to the European Parliament.
In this regard, Dr Zlatko Fras presented explicit proposals aiming to guarantee transparency, clarity and coherence in the different mechanisms of recognition of qualifications as envisaged under the directive. In essence, it is suggested
- Introduce the concept of competences in the definition of minimum training requirements, possibly through enlarging the scope of the proposed common training frameworks,
- Create a voluntary European certification on the basis of harmonised curricula of core competences for each medical specialty,
- Build on the European Training Tests as proposed in the proposed revised directive in order to gain wider recognition for the European Assessments conducted by the UEMS Specialist Sections & European Boards.
The UEMS was proud that Ms Bernadette Vergnaud, MEP Rapporteur on that dossier, publicly acknowledged the commitment and vision of the UEMS in dealing with that difficult topic.
