Definition

Process of official acknowledgment by one or more countries or organisations of the similarity of value of qualifications (certificates, diplomas or titles) awarded in (or by) one or more other countries or organisations, including the associated rights and duties.

• Mutual recognition can be bilateral (between two countries or organisations) or multilateral (between the countries of the European Union or between companies belonging to the same sector);
• the Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications provides for three qualification recognition systems:
  
  
• automatic recognition for professions whose minimum training conditions are harmonised to a certain extent at European level: doctors, nurses responsible for general care, dentists, veterinary surgeons, midwives, pharmacists and architects;
• automatic recognition for certain occupations based on their professional experience: professionals in crafts, trades and industry;
• the general system for the abovementioned professions which are not covered by the automatic recognition system is based on the principle of mutual recognition of qualifications;

• this directive introduced the principle of partial access to a profession where the activities covered by a regulated profession differ from one country to another.