The EU Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive – or MRPQ – is a fundamental component of the Single Market. It allows professionals to have their qualifications, obtained in one member state, recognised in another. This allows them to be employed anywhere within the EU’s single market irrespective of where they were trained .
The UK government’s response to the EU review of MRPQ was published in September 2011. And it’s no accident that this coincided with the cut in funding to nursing and allied health training places.
“The modernization of the Professional Qualifications Directive comes at a crucial time in the economies of the EU,” begins the opening paragraph of the response, before getting down to business:
“Decreasing public budgets and difficult economic circumstances cast new light on systems which originate from past decades, and create urgency to ensure that these systems do not hinder economic growth.” No surprise, then, that it goes on: “We therefore welcome the review of the Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive (2005/36/EC), as one of the European Commission’s 12 levers to boost growth in the single market.”
• Related article: So why are we relying on EU healthcare staff?