Translation of "translation of état des qualifications " (French → English) :

Points out that the right to move and reside freely within EU territory will be impossible to exercise to the full unless, among other measures, an effective system is established for the recognition of professional qualifications; therefore urges the Commission and the Member States, acting within their respective spheres of competence, to enable greater numbers of Union citizens holding professional qualifications obtained in one Member State to be admitted to a corresponding profession in another Member State and to practise that profession on the same terms as citizens of the latter Member State.

Nevertheless, by way of derogation from that general rule, a Member State may approve persons who have acquired qualifications, outside that Member State, equivalent to those required by the Directive.

With regard to the right of Member States to approve persons who have obtained, outside the host Member State, qualifications equivalent to those required by the directive, the Court goes on to observe that the Eighth Directive is concerned with the determination by the host Member State of the equivalence of the “qualifications” obtained in whole or in part in another Member State.

Since the directive does not cover “recognition of the approval given to nationals of other Member States”, the assessment of whether qualifications are equivalent is based on a factual assessment which is not restricted only to qualifications gained under the rules in force before the Eighth Directive was adopted, and that assessment must not be dependent upon the moment at which those qualifications were gained (before or after implementation of the Eighth Directive).

(9) Council Resolution of 3 December 1992 on the transparency of qualifications(13), and Council Resolution of 15 July 1996 on the transparency of vocational training certificates(14), called on the Commission and the Member States to take steps to improve mutual understanding of the qualifications systems of the various Member States and of the qualifications themselves, by making them clearer and more readable, and therefore more transparent.

More specifically, the Council invites the Commission: (a) to work towards greater coherence at Community level between vocational education and training programmes and other policies which support Member States' efforts in this field; (b) to promote the development of European co-operation on qualifications, in line with the Council Resolution of 3 December 1992 on transparency of qualifications; (c) to strengthen transnational co-operation by reviewing the possibilities for students and trainees to undertake recognized training co ...[+++]urses, or part of them, in another Member State, where this is relevant to their training goals, as well as increasing exchange opportunities for educators and planners in the vocational training system; (d) to intensify transnational initiatives designed to promote information exchanges and the level of knowledge in the field of vocational education and training, with a view to enhancing the transparency of qualifications and facilitating the mobility of the workforce within the Community; (e) to promote the transfer of innovation and the development of applied research with a view to supporting modernization, adaptability and quality in vocational education and training; (f) to take account of this Resolution in its proposals for reviewing and co-ordinating Community education and training programmes, alongside the responses of the Member States to its memorandum on vocational training in the 1990s, and the Council discussion on the Commission guidelines for education and vocational training.