EUROPEAN UNION WORLD

3. Measures to encourage freedom of movement

a. Mutual recognition of training
Freedom of movement is often hampered by differences in training from one Member State to another. This is true particularly in the case of regulated professions for which states have prescribed purely national certificates and diplomas which they require the citizens of other states to possess, thus restricting considerably the practical significance of the freedom to take up employment without formally contravening the rule of non-discrimination on the basis of nationality. Not being able to harmonize the training concerned, the Community has followed the course of mutual recognition of certificates and diplomas:

- firstly for specific professions;

- then on the basis of general systems of equivalence.
Such mutual recognition was introduced primarily so that the professions covered could be practised on a self-employed basis but it also applies, of course, to employed persons.

The problem also exists in the regulated professions where failure to possess national professional qualifications, which are often the only ones known to employers, may hamper chances of finding work. Here the Community has introduced comparability of vocational qualifications: on the basis of a Council decision of 16 July 1985 comparability has been ensured for skilled workers in 19 vocational sectors; the result was published in the form of tables in the Official Journal. (The work was carried out by a specialized body, Cedefop, and completed in 1993.)

b. Exchanges between young workers

To encourage freedom of movement, the Treaty (Article 50) stipulated that Member States should encourage the exchange of young workers within the framework of a joint programme.
This was first carried out through the PETRA programme, which lasted from 1988 to 1994: it was aimed at young people between 16 and 28 undergoing non-university vocational training, and provides grants to enable them to spend from thee weeks to three months doing vocational training in another Community country. Some 45 000 young people benefited. After 1994 the PETRA machinery was integrated in the wider framework of the Leonardo da Vinci programme.

c. The EURES network

This was set up under Commission Regulation 2434/92, amending Regulation 1612/68 mentioned above, to facilitate access to information by workers seeking a job in a Member State other than their own. This network is a data bank of job vacancies and applications (incorporating data from national administrations) and on living and working conditions in the Member States.

Freedom of establishment and provision of services and mutual recognition of diplomas Articles 3(c), 7a and 52 to 66 of the EC Treaty.

The intention is to ensure that the self-employed (whether working in commercial, industrial or craft occupations or the liberal professions) are free to exercise their profession throughout the Community, in terms of both freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services, especially with regard to the best economic location. This implies the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of nationality and measures to facilitate the exercise of these freedoms, if they are to be effectively used: especially harmonization of national access rules or their mutual recognition.

1. Liberalization in the Treaty

a. The principle
The EC Treaty states the principle whereby the self-employed may freely exercise an activity in two ways: the person or firm may set up in another Member State (freedom of establishment) or offer their services across frontiers in other Member States while remaining in their country of origin (freedom to provide services: Article 59). Any new restrictive measures have been prohibited since the treaty came into force and existing restrictions would be abolished by Council directives before the end of the transition period under a general stage-by-stage programme (Articles 54 and 63).

b. The beneficiaries

In the first instance natural persons: small scale industry and the liberal professions. The activities generally exercised by legal persons (insurance, banking, industry, etc.) are also affected by this freedom but are dealt with in a separate fact sheet because of their importance.

c. The exceptions
The treaty excludes activities connected with the exercise of official authority from freedom of establishment and provision of services (Article 55, first paragraph). It also enables Member States to exclude the production of or trade in war material (Article 223(1)(b)) and retain rules for non-nationals in respect of public policy, public security or public health (Article 56).

2. Implementation of liberalization until the decision that it had direct effect

Two general programmes adopted on 18 December 1961 made provision for directives to abolish restrictions to freedom of establishment and provision of services for various activities.
Although the Council adopted a good number, the work was far from complete in 1974 when the Court decided that, despite omissions, under the terms of the Treaty the two freedoms had a direct effect from the end of the transition period: i.e. from 1 January 1970. There was thus no need to continue the work to abolish restrictions and the pending directives were withdrawn.

3. Significance and extent of liberalization since the declaration that it had direct effect
The Court's affirmation of direct effect of the two freedoms in the Reyners case (2/74, of 21 June 1974) concerning freedom of establishment and the Van Bingsbergen case (33/74, of 3 December 1974) concerning freedom to provide services meant that Community nationals are entitled to be treated as nationals. A Member State must allow nationals of other Member States to establish themselves or provide services on its territory under the same conditions as its own nationals. Any discrimination on the grounds of nationality is thus prohibited.

Nevertheless national conditions of access to and exercise of the activities continue to apply, which still leaves barriers for non-nationals. To diminish these obstacles, Community measures to facilitate the exercise of the two freedoms are still worthwhile, in harmonizing national rules on access to the professions or securing mutual recognition of these rules.

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