Identifying professions for Common Training Frameworks

This study supports the identification of professions that could benefit from extended automatic recognition through Common Training Frameworks (CTFs) under Article 49a of Directive 2005/36/EC. 

Common Training Frameworks are a mechanism under Directive 2005/36/EC to facilitate professional mobility within the Single Market. They establish a common set of minimum knowledge, skills and competences for a profession across at least one-third of EU countries. Professionals who meet these requirements can benefit from automatic recognition of their qualifications without having to undergo additional compensatory measures.

CTFs do not require EU countries to fully harmonise their education and training systems. They provide a flexible approach that allows EU countries to maintain other national training routes alongside those that comply with a CTF, while supporting the cross-border recognition of professional qualifications.

The study has two main objectives. First, it identifies regulated professions that could potentially be suitable for the development of CTFs. Second, it assesses which professions appear most feasible for a CTF, based on commonalities in training requirements across EU countries, and identifies the potential elements that such frameworks could include.

The study does not develop or draft Common Training Frameworks. This would require separate exercises involving extensive consultation, detailed mapping of competences and formal regulatory processes. Instead, the study provides preliminary analysis and considerations that can support further reflection and, where appropriate, inform future initiatives on Common Training Frameworks and the automatic recognition of professional qualifications.