New deal for the recognition of professional qualifications and the permission to practise a regulated profession

The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on January 31st, 2020, further to the outcome of a withdrawal agreement. Its entry into force marked the beginning of a transition period which ended on December 31st, 2020. From January 1st, 2021, the United Kingdom definitely left the European Union and is henceforth considered as a third State.
Taking these evolutions over time into account, the recognition of professional qualifications and the permission to practise a regulated profession are granted according to the date of the file delivery to the competent authority.

Three scenarios can be presented :

1/ All situation which has been regularized before the withdrawal of the United Kingdom is destined to remain ;

2/ All recognition request concerning professional qualifications submitted between January 31st, 2020, and December 31st, 2020, by a European citizen who holds British professional qualification or by a British citizen, to competent authority of a European Union member state will be negotiated under European texts in force ;

3/ From January 1st, 2021, the United Kingdom is considered as a non-EU country.
It generates the national law’s primacy of the host Member State for any application for recognition request concerning professional qualifications submitted after January 1st, 2021, by a European citizen who holds British professional qualification or by a British citizen to competent authority of a European Union member state.
Concerning professional qualifications and the permission to practise regulated health professions in France, the practical legal regime differs according to the type of targeted profession :

For paramedical professions (book III, fourth part, French Public Health Code)

As set out in the French Public Health Code, health professions targeted in Book III are accessible to the citizens of a European Union State Member or to European Economic Area and/or holders of a European Union/European Economic Area certificate.
Nevertheless, French Public Health Code opens up the possibility of a recognition :

• To European Union/European Economic Area citizens who hold a certificate out of European Union/European Economic Area, on condition that the certificate is known in a Member State other than France and that the professional can justify of three years of full-time practise in the profession in the State in which they obtain their certificate.
• To Third State citizens who hold a European Union/European Economic Area certificate, pursuant to provisions in article L.4381-4 of the French Public Health Code. This permission can be delivered individually by the competent authority, after a commission has delivered its opinion, to any practitioner whom the profession is cited in book III of the French Public Health Code and who holds a certificate delivered by a European Union/European Economic Area Member State and who can justify of a professional experience.

Important information : negotiations are still taking place and these rules can be modified in the following months.

Version Française