Abstract
The establishment of the European Common Market has involved the free movement not only of capital and goods, but also of persons and services. The principles of free movement also apply to the health care sector, i.e. they allow for the free incorporation of health care providers and the cross-border delivery of services. Since the 1970s, the European Union (EU) has passed numerous regulations to enforce the mutual recognition of qualifications of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals by the Member States, considered an indispensable precondition for the free movement of services. Thus far, the establishment of a European job market for the health care professions has not led to extensive migration among the EU Member States. Likewise, the accession of Central and Eastern European countries to the EU in 2004 did not cause a "brain drain" to the better-off countries of Western and Northern Europe. However, the mobility among health care professions is expected to increase in the coming years.
Highlights
The European Union (EU) is not unimportant in the field of health policy
The principles of free movement apply to the health care sector, i.e. they allow for the free incorporation of health care providers and the cross-border delivery of services
The principles of free movement apply to the health care sector, i.e. they allow for the free settlement of health care providers and the crossborder delivery of health care services
Summary
The free movement of persons implies that health professionals, as a part of the European workforce, can move across borders and work in other Member States. Since 1975 a considerable number of directives have been adopted, and amended, governing the mutual recognition of the various occupational certificates for physicians 3,4, dentists 5, pharmacists 6, nurses 7,8, and midwives 9 These directives contain extensive and detailed educational requirements for specific occupations, prerequisites for admission, duration, and scope of training, and occupational titles. Automatic recognition is guaranteed only if at least ten member states have introduced the new title (the so-called “two-fifths regulation”) If this is the case in less than ten countries, practicing this specialty in another Member State is possible only if a bilateral agreement exists or if the authority in the country in which the physician desires to practice issues an appropriate permit. According to European law, both are entitled to practice general medicine in any EU Member State
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