There will always be labour mobility
The mutual recognition of professional qualifications is not a driver of cross-border labour mobility. However, not recognising qualifications can lead to worse jobs.
UM – 11/2019
One
third of migrant workers feel overqualified for their job. This figure increases
to 40% for people working as personal care workers. The reasons include a lack
of language skills, but also inadequate recognition of their professional qualifications.
Focus on recognition of professional qualifications
These findings are the
result of the study ‘Labour mobility and
recognition in the regulated professions’
conducted by the European Parliament’s Directorate-General for Internal EU-Policies on behalf of
the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL).
The aim of the study is to give Members of the European Parliament an
up-to-date overview of the results of the Professional Qualifications Directive
of 7 September 2005, which was revised in 2013, and how the European system for
the recognition of professional qualifications works. A report was presented to
the Committee on 5 November.
System works well for health professionals
The
main finding of the study is that the automatic recognition procedure, which
has been established for professions where minimum training requirements are
uniform across the EU, works well. This applies, for example, to doctors, but
also to nurses.
Not so good for carpenters
It
becomes more problematic where requirements have not been harmonised. This is
where differences in training and professional requirements at national level
become apparent and impede the mutual recognition of job qualifications. As a
result, people looking for new career prospects in other EU countries because
of their partner, unemployment, better earnings or other reasons find
themselves in a job that is not appropriate to their skill level. Valuable
potential remains untapped.
Transparency needed
The
study acknowledges that the evidence and data available to assess the impact of
the Professional Qualifications Directive (PQD) are limited. This is mainly due
to the relatively short period of time since compliance became mandatory. The amended
Directive 2013/55/EU was only fully implemented by the Member States in 2016. More
information and transparency are needed to make a final assessment of how the PQD
can be effectively implemented in practice, both at European and national
level.
The
recognition of professional qualifications lies within the competence of the
Member States. The results of the study should also be seen as a call for more common
ground across the Member States. This may not necessarily increase the number
of people moving for work because people migrate whether there is mutual recognition
of qualifications or not; however, it should result in them finding better
jobs.