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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN DENTAL COMPETENT AUTHORITIES AND REGULATORS

FEDCAR

We bring together European orders, chambers and public bodies responsible for the regulation, the registration and the supervision of oral health professionals.

Lobbying Activity

Response to Communication on maximising the potential of talent mobility as part of the European Year of Skills

9 Oct 2023

Confidence in the quality of dental qualifications, whether acquired in Europe or beyond, is essential to facilitate a proper recognition. For this reason, the European Dental Regulators and Competent Authorities gathered in FEDCAR welcome the proposed decision on a "European Year of Skills 2023" and its ambition for "promoting tools and instruments for increased transparency of qualifications, including qualifications awarded outside the Union" (draft Article 3(1)(g)) : at this light should be read the Commission's initiative on the "recognition of qualifications of non-EU (third country) nationals". While attracting qualified third-country nationals may be seen by some as an additional way to help to address skills and labour shortages in the EU, this must be done without compromising patient health safety. Each country has indeed autonomy to decide on the procedure and conditions for the recognition of third-country health professions qualifications but this procedure varies greatly between States : In addition to the theoretical examination (written, oral) and practical examination that FEDCAR recommends as a basic standard, some countries consider it is also needed to add some induction period or compensation measures. Therefore, FEDCAR's Regulators and Competent Dental Authorities recall the recognition of dental qualifications obtained outside the European Union must -at a strict minimum- correspond to the applicable European requirements (Directive 2005/36 EC), knowing that some prudent countries apply measures going beyond this minimum standard. This minimum requirement is mandatory : - not only to meet the criteria for obtaining the European Blue Card for third-country nationals, - but above all to guarantee confidence in the oral health competence of the practitioner, - and to maintain confidence in the free movement of professionals in the EU. The guarantee for the patient of a high-quality oral health care must not be questioned in any way, regardless of the origin of the qualification. It is in this light that FEDCAR's dental regulators and competent authorities support the "European Year of Competence 2023" -wherein the Commission's initiative on the "recognition of qualifications of non-EU (third country) nationals" takes place- and in particular its call for "the transparency of qualifications, including those issued outside the EU".
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Response to Achieving the European Education Area

26 Aug 2020

From the point of view of regulators in charge of oral-health professions (FEDCAR) , the European Education Area by 2025 should address two issues : the accreditation of universities’ programs and the updating of harmonized programmes of health education existing in Europe. 1-Accreditation of universities’ programs relating to health professions Before the Covid-19, the W.H.O. set a « Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030 » according to which, among the first objectives, «by 2020, all countries will have established accreditation mechanisms for health training institutions.». However in the EU, such a system of accreditation : -is not set in every countries, -is not conducted identically when it exists (by external and independent bodies in some countries, by public organisations in some others), -and over all is not reaching at all common standards when it is applied to dental education among the 200 dental schools existing in the EU. In 2018 the EU Council acknowledged « the importance of fostering transparency and building trust in each other's higher education systems to achieve automatic mutual recognition for the purpose of further learning » ; it also acknowledged that one of the conditions to fulfill to do so was to set up an « external » and « independent » system of « quality assurance » among Member States. We believe this objective should be enhanced and be integrated to the European Education Area, in line with President von der Leyen’s commitment to create a genuine but" trustable" space of learning in Europe. In conclusion : the European Education Area should aim at facilitating by 2025 the circulation of students and ultimately of workers within the single market. A harmonization of national systems of « accreditation » / « quality assurance » mechanisms would facilitate the mutual trust between countries about the diplomas’ quality delivered within the European Education Area. 2-Updating of harmonized programme of education set in Directive 2005/36 on the recognition of professional qualifications A European Education Area achieved by 2025 should be coordinated with the existing and solid EU system of recognition of professional qualifications. Directive 2005/36 on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications set up a common and minimum training programmes in Europe for architects, dental practitioners, doctors, midwives, nurses and pharmacists. Those programs have been elaborated in the 70s and the 80s. They have not been updated since then. In 2020 the Covid-19 sheds a sharp light on those minimum but outdated programmes for training health professionals in Europe. Especially in comparison with digital skills expected from a future Digital Single Market. The EU Commission's recent report on the recognition of professional qualifications mentions the updating of these programmes « in light of generally acknowledged scientific and technical progress » only as a « possibility » : we believe such an updating should not be optional. In that context we can only welcome the preparatory study mapping and assessing the needs for updating the training of nurses (reference below) and the on-going preparatory study regarding dental practitioners and pharmacists. The updating of minimum and common programs of training and education set in Directive 2005/36 should be carried out by the EU legislator as soon as possible in order to participate to the objective of setting a European Education Area by 2025. References : -Council Recommendation of 26 November 2018 C 444/1 on promoting automatic mutual recognition of higher education and upper secondary education and training qualifications and the outcomes of learning periods abroad (see Recommendation number 2). -Report of the Commission 11.5.2020 COM(2020) 191 final
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