The Commission proposes faster recognition of qualifications for work in another EU country and compensation for delays

Deadlines would be reduced to five weeks for automatic recognition and to 11 weeks for other applications. The package would also introduce digital proof of qualifications and social security coverage, alongside better-coordinated checks to protect workers, including those from outside the EU.

The European Commission proposes shorter deadlines for recognizing professional qualifications in other EU countries and compensation for certain delays by authorities. The fair labour mobility package would also allow digital documents to be used to prove qualifications and social security coverage, while strengthening cooperation between labour inspectorates. The legislative proposals must be approved by the European Parliament and the Council.

In brief

1.Recognition of qualifications would be accelerated through a common digital procedure, with deadlines of five weeks for automatic recognition and 11 weeks for other applications. Applicants could request compensation for certain delays attributable to the authorities, under the conditions set out in the draft.

2.Digital attestations and a new Europass tool would help workers and employers verify and compare qualifications from different countries. The digital format would not replace the recognition required to practise a regulated profession.

3.ESSPASS would allow the A1 document for posted workers and the European Health Insurance Card to be used online. The card should be issued within no more than 24 hours of a complete application; paper documents would remain available.

4.The European Labour Authority would support inspections explicitly covering the rights of workers from third countries as well. Inspections would still require the agreement of the participating states, and refusals would have to be justified.

5.The legislative proposals must be negotiated in Parliament and the Council. The proposed timetable provides for digital A1 documents one year after the relevant regulation enters into force and the main digital changes for qualifications and the European card three years after the respective acts enter into force.

The first change concerns access to regulated professions, for which practising depends on a recognized qualification. The Commission proposes reducing deadlines from three months to five weeks in cases benefiting from automatic recognition and from four months to 11 weeks for other applications. Procedures would be conducted through a common European platform, and applications and supporting documents would be accepted in all official EU languages, reducing the need for certified translations.

The platform would allow applicants to track their files, while authorities in the country of origin and the country where they wish to work could exchange the necessary evidence directly. The authority receiving the application would have to flag missing documents within no more than one week. The new deadlines would not eliminate qualification verification. The procedure includes completing the file and, where necessary, obtaining confirmations from the country of origin.

For failure to meet the deadlines, the draft introduces the right to request compensation calculated per day of delay. This would be triggered if the authority in the country of origin exceeds the relevant deadlines by more than five calendar days or if the authority in the host country exceeds them by more than ten days. The calculation would begin on the first day after the deadline expires; however, the host country would not be held responsible for the time spent awaiting evidence requested from the country of origin or the third country that issued the qualification. States could cap the total amount. The proposed amendment to the directive on professional qualificationsestablishes these conditions.

For qualifications included in national frameworks, holders could request a free attestation in the European Digital Identity Wallet, to present it in other EU countries. For qualifications awarded in the ten years preceding the entry into force of the new regulation, issuance upon request should take no more than two weeks. The draft allows states to limit this retroactive issuance to persons who prove that they will use the document to work in another Member State.

A new tool on the Europass platform would allow employers and workers to compare the content of qualifications free of charge, using national databases. The digital document would make it easier to verify the authenticity of a diploma, while the comparison would help clarify the training it certifies. The digital format would not, however, change the recognition rules. For a regulated profession, the document in the wallet would not replace the decision of the competent authority.

For physiotherapists, the Commission has separately adopted the first common training framework, which would allow the automatic recognition of qualifications meeting the common minimum competence requirements. The mechanism concerns participating Member States. The framework is subject to scrutiny by the European Parliament and the Council, so its adoption by the Commission does not mean that the new recognition already applies.

The package also addresses qualifications obtained outside the EU. A proposed directive for third-country nationals would introduce common requirements concerning documents, processing deadlines and the right to appeal decisions. Automatic recognition would be possible only for qualifications originating from previously approved training programmes that comply with European minimum standards, in professions such as doctor, general care nurse or architect.

Recognition of such a qualification in one Member State would not make the decision automatically transferable to the others. Nor would it confer the right to enter, reside or work in the EU. These conditions would remain distinct from the assessment of professional training. The Commission specifies these limits in its explanations of the package.

Proof of social security coverage would follow a similar path of digitalization through the European Social Security Pass, ESSPASS. A posted worker could request, receive and present the A1 document electronically, showing in which country they are covered by social security. The European Health Insurance Card could also be managed online; the draft sets a deadline of no more than 24 hours from submission of a complete application for its issuance.

Social security institutions, inspectors and healthcare providers could directly verify whether a document is authentic, whether its data have been altered and whether it is still valid. This verification would reduce the need for separate administrative confirmations and help detect forged documents. Use of the digital wallet would not be mandatory. Paper versions would remain available upon request and would include verifiable security features, according to the ESSPASS proposal.

To combat abuses in cross-border work, the Commission proposes extending the mandate of the European Labour Authority, ELA. It would receive broader access to data for risk analyses and coordinate inspections explicitly covering the labour and social security rights of workers from third countries as well. National liaison officers for inspections would support cooperation between authorities.

“Closer cooperation between national authorities will help combat fraud and abuses, so that those who break the rules cannot disadvantage responsible workers and businesses,” Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the Commission responsible for social rights and skills, said in the statement. This is the objective cited by the European executive to combine the simplification of procedures with stronger enforcement of the rules.

ELA could request on its own initiative the organization of concerted or joint inspections, but these would still depend on the agreement of the participating states. The draft would require a state that refuses to participate to justify its decision and communicate the reasons within ten working days. Supervisory powers would remain exercised within the national framework, with the support of the European authority. The proposal on ELA’s mandate explicitly retains the condition of national consent.

For workers and employers, implementation of the changes would be gradual, after the legislative negotiations are concluded. The proposed timetable provides for the digitalization of the A1 document one year after the ESSPASS regulation enters into force, and of the European card and other social security documents after three years. Digital attestations of qualifications and the new digital recognition procedures would also begin to apply three years after the respective acts enter into force. These periods are not calculated from the Commission’s presentation of the package.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/comisia-propune-recunoasterea-mai-rapida-a-calificarilor-pentru-munca-in-alt-stat-ue-si-despagubiri-pentru-intarzieri