EU Professional Qualifications Directive: Advancing Skills Portability Across Borders

The European Commission has reinforced its commitment to improving cross-border skills mobility, with over 185,000 professionals benefiting from qualification recognition between 2020 and 2024. 

Fidere Avocats, one of CELIA Alliance’s French member firms, explores what this means for businesses and professionals operating across the EU.  

The key points covered in this article are: 

• Over 185,000 professionals have benefited from cross-border recognition, particularly in critical sectors such as healthcare and education 

• The Professional Qualifications Directive remains a cornerstone of EU labour mobility and competitiveness 

• Recognition procedures are still often complex, with calls for simplification and increased digitalisation 

• Balancing faster recognition with maintaining national standards remains a key challenge 

• A new EU Skills Portability Initiative is expected to further streamline processes and enhance talent mobility 

The European Commission report: what does it mean? 

The report published on 20 February 2026 on the impacts of the Professional Qualifications Directive allows professionals to have their qualifications recognised in another EU country. 

The European Commission is stepping up efforts to make skills more portable across borders, as a new report confirms that more than 185,000 professionals have had their qualifications recognised in another EU country between 2020 and 2024.  

A significant share of these, around 140,000, were in critical sectors such as healthcare and education, underlining the system’s importance for essential services.

A cornerstone of mobility and EU competitiveness  

The system is based on the EU directive on professional qualifications, (Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications) designed to support worker mobility and address skills shortages across the bloc.

According to the Commission, the framework is broadly effective and remains a cornerstone of the EU’s single market, enabling talent to move more freely between countries.

Beyond the headline figures, the report stresses that recognition systems have enabled mobility across a wide range of professions and skill levels.

This is increasingly important as Europe faces structural labour shortages linked to the green and digital transitions, as well as demographic change. Improving the circulation of skills is therefore seen as central to maintaining the EU’s competitiveness.

Simplifying procedures while safeguarding standards 

The report also identifies persistent challenges. 

Recognition procedures are often still lengthy and complex, due to limited harmonisation, incomplete digitalisation and administrative burdens. The Commission is therefore calling for simpler processes and a broader use of automatic recognition across more professions. 

Trust between Member States remains essential to ensure the quality of qualifications. Tools such as administrative cooperation systems are expected to be strengthened, alongside regular updates to training standards. 

Yet, some stakeholders warn that overly broad automatic recognition could risk undermining national standards, particularly in regulated professions where safety and local requirements are critical. Balancing mobility with quality assurance therefore remains a key policy challenge. 

What’s next? 

The report will feed into a broader Skills Portability Initiative, expected later in 2026, which forms part of the EU’s wider “Union of Skills” strategy. The initiative aims to enhance the transparency, recognition, and transferability of skills across Europe, unlocking the full potential of the single market. 

Looking ahead, the EU plans to further streamline processes through digital solutions. The report points to the potential of digital credentials, interoperable systems, and streamlined online procedures to reduce administrative burdens and speed up recognition processes. 

Improving cross-border recognition of skills will be essential to strengthen competitiveness and meet evolving labour market needs. 

Beyond operational challenges, particularly in implementing qualification recognition mechanisms, by identifying the applicable regimes depending on the Member States and the professions concerned, especially where professions are regulated, this framework can enable companies to leverage EU instruments to attract talent.

How CELIA Alliance can help

We are dedicated to helping international businesses make the most of their people. As a non-exclusive alliance, CELIA members are also retained by other professional services firms (including some of the world’s 100 largest law firms) to deliver the expert services expected by their clients.

Please feel free to contact us or one of our member firms for more information.