News

The European Commission has claimed that France is breaking EU law by restricting the employment of qualified social care workers from other member states.

The commission claimed that France's rules clash with European directives on the mutual recognition of diplomas and with other EU commitments on the free movement of workers across member states.

The French system stops local authorities from taking a non-French EU candidate's professional experience into account when they are assessed for a job, claimed a commission statement.

This "means that [social care professionals] from other member states find it very difficult to gain access to this profession in the French public sector," said the commmission

The French government will have to defend itself at the European Court of Justice. If the court finds against France, it will almost certainly have to reform its system. Under current rules, the judges have the power to levy fines, as much as 100,000 Euros a day, which are payable until a member state has complied with their wishes.

The commission has proposed formalising European rules on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications within a directive that covers all "regulated professions".