Qualifications
The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, now in place, means change. It will require adapting to new trading arrangements, rules and regulations. This will introduce important information on the recognition of qualifications if your business provides services cross-border on the island of Ireland or to GB.
recognition of
qualifications
The EU legislation on the recognition of qualifications will ceased to apply to the UK on 1 January 2021. UK nationals and EU citizens holding a qualification from the UK previously benefitted from a simplified (in some cases automatic) recognition regime in other EU countries, which allowed professionals to supply services across the EU, including in the UK.
new RECOGNITION OF QUALIFICATIONS rules
As of 1 January 2021, as a general rule, UK nationals, irrespective of where they acquired their qualifications, and EU citizens with qualifications acquired in the UK will need to have their qualifications recognised in the relevant Member State on the basis of each country’s existing individual rules applicable to the qualifications of third-country nationals as of the end of the transition period.
FUTURE PLANS
The Brexit Agreement foresees a mechanism whereby the EU and the UK may later agree on additional arrangements for the mutual recognition of certain professional qualifications. We will update this content as and when the details of any such proposed mechanisms are available. In the meantime, please see below for guidance relating to current arrangements.
UK Obtained Qualifications
in Ireland
The Irish Government guidance indicates that there may be implications for people working in Ireland who obtained professional qualifications in the UK, or who seek to have a UK qualification recognised in Ireland. If you have already had these qualifications recognised by the relevant regulator, there will be no change and you can continue to practise in Ireland or elsewhere. For more information from Citizens Information Ireland click here and Gov.ie click here.
Ireland Obtained Qualifications
in UK/Northern Ireland
If you hold Irish qualifications and plan to work or practise a regulated profession or activity in Northern Ireland or elsewhere in the UK then you should check with your relevant professional or qualification body or regulator. In the case of some bodies, the regulator is local to Northern Ireland, while in other cases, there is a UK wide regulator. GOV.UK have guidance on getting your EU professional qualification recognised in the UK, click here for more information.