Recognition of Diplomas and Qualifications

(source: European Union)

• I. Information on Community Law
• II. Formalities in France
• III. Useful addresses in France

I. Information on Community law

Basic principle:

You have the right of establishment as a self-employed or employed person in any Member State of the European Union, subject to recognition of your qualification. There are simplified authorization and registration procedures if you wish merely to provide services in another Member State.

Scope: 

1. Only qualifications acquired in a Member State and listed in the relevant Directive are eligible for mandatory and automatic recognition throughout the European Community. A recently acquired diploma entitling the holder to take up the profession of dentist in his home Member State will, as a general rule, be recognized but, if in doubt, you are advised to consult your professional association. For specialist qualifications in orthodontics or oral surgery, recognition is mandatory and automatic only for the Member States specified in the Directive. In the case of other specializations, which are either not covered by the Directive or are covered only in respect of the host Member State, recognition is mandatory and given on a case-by-case basis, but only after the host Member State has made a comparison between, on the one hand, the education and training received in the Member State of origin of the applicant or the Member State from which he comes and, on the other, that required in the host Member State. Applicants may in some cases be asked to undergo additional training.
   
   
2. In specific cases, especially older forms of training undertaken in certain Member States prior to implementation of the Directives or qualifications which have a different designation, recognition may be subject to certain requirements.
   
   
3. In very special cases, doctors' qualifications acquired in Italy or Spain may be given recognition under the Dentists Directive.
   
   
4. There is no provision for the recognition of training received in countries outside the European Union. Such recognition may, however, be granted by Member States but is binding only on the Member State that grants it and does not extend beyond the territory of that Member State.
   
   
5. The authorities of the host Member State have three months in which to process your application to take up the activity concerned. Decisions not to grant recognition must be reasoned decisions, and it must be possible to appeal against them to the national courts.

Reference documents: 

• Directives 78/686/EEC and 78/687/EEC (Official Journal of the European Communities No L 233 of 24 August 1978), as amended by: - the Act of Accession of Greece (OJ No L 291 of 19 November 1979); 
• the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal (OJ No L 302 of 15 November 1985);
• Directive 81/1057/EEC (OJ No L 385 of 31 December 1981);
• Directive 89/594/EEC (OJ No L 341 of 23 November 1989);
• Directive 90/658/EEC (OJ No L 353 of 17 December 1990);
• the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden (OJ No L 1 of 1 January 1995).

II. Formalities in France

1. How to proceed

• If you wish to provide services, you do not need to register with the Ordre des chirurgiens dentistes (Dental Surgeons Registration Board) but you must make a prior declaration to the conseil départemental (Departmental Council) of the Ordre des chirurgiens dentistes responsible for the area where you will be staying.
• If you wish to establish yourself in France, you must apply to the Departmental Council of the Board responsible for the area where you wish to set up in practice. Within one month of setting up in practice, you must also report to the prefecture or sub-prefecture and to the registry of the tribunal de grande instance (regional court) (no charge is made).

2. Information and/or documents to be submitted to the competent authorities

You will have to submit inter alia the following documents to the Departmental Council: 

• a certified copy of your diploma; 
• a translation of your diploma by a translator approved by the French courts;
• a certificate issued by the competent authorities of the Member State in which you obtained your diploma stating that it is in conformity with the Community Directives; 
• an extract from your judicial record or an equivalent document or a declaration of good conduct or good repute issued, where appropriate, by your home Member State or the Member State from which you come.

3. Fees 

The costs of having your diploma translated.

4. Contact point

• The Departmental Council of the Dental Surgeons Registration Board;
• The prefecture or sub-prefecture for the area where you wish to set up in practice.

5. National rules 

• Article L356 of the Public Health Code; 
• for registration: Article L361 of the Public Health Code; 
• for the provision of services: Article L356-1 of the Public Health Code and Decree No 86/112 of 23 January 1986 laying down the detailed arrangements for the declaration provided for in Article L356 and the disciplinary rules governing the provision of services by practitioners from other Member States of the European Union.

III. Useful addresses in France

• Ministère de L'emploi et de la Solidarité Direction Générale de la Santé Sous-Direction des Professions de Santé 
  8, avenue de Ségur F - 75350 Paris 07 SP
• Conseil National de l'Ordre des Chirurgiens dentistes 
  22, rue Emile Menier F - 75116 Paris
• CNSD (Confédération Nationale des Syndicats Dentaires) 
  22, av. de Villiers F - 75017 Paris
• Association Dentaire Française 
  6, rue Guillaume Tell F - 75017 Paris

Note: This Citizens First Factsheet is intended to provide guidance on EU law for information purposes only. It has been prepared by the European Commission with the help of national authorities and contains information on the national implementation of EU law. You are advised that the texts of Community legal instruments should be relied upon in case of doubt concerning the extent of a right or obligation arising from EU law.