Case Study 3, Part 7 (16 September 2011)

Two years on from the original correspondence with the EC, the United Kingdom has finally yielded and issued new Regulations under S.I. 2011 No 2008.  Subsection (2A) of section 4 now no longer requires EC candidates for registration in the United Kingdom to produce evidence of lawful establishment or eligibility to practise in their home Member State.

The Explanatory Note that is attached to the Statutory Instrument raises a concern.  It is understandable that no mention is made of the necessity to amend the Act for the sake of compliance with the EC Directive.  But the reason given to explain the necessity for the amending legislation is: “Since Annex V now lists for each Member State all the qualifications (including practical experience) required to gain access to the profession, these additional requirements of lawful establishment and eligibility to practise are not necessary in order to ensure automatic recognition”. 

Under paragraph 7 (reference Annex V of the Directive 2005/36/EC, point 5.7.1), column 4, for all years from 2006 to 2010 reference is made to “An Architects registration Board Part 3 Certificate of Architectural Education” as being, presumably, sufficient to establish title of architect when it accompanies the formal qualifications listed in columns 2 and 3.  As yet it is not at all clear that the Architects Registration Board have the statutory authority to issue such certificates under the provisions of the Architects Act.

Furthermore, in an Evaluation of the Professional Qualifications Directive 2005/36/EC, the Netherlands said:

"We would also like to make a remark about (the status of) Annex V.7 of the Directive. This Annex is more or less copied from the "List of diplomas in Architecture which are the object of mutual recognition by the Member States", drawn up pursuant to Article 7 of Directive 85/384/EEC.  There is an important difference however.  Where the List of Article 7 of Directive 85/384/EEC is dealing with diplomas only, Annex V.7, especially by the way column 4 is going to be filled in by the Member States, is developing into a list of requirements that a national of a home Member State must meet before he or she is considered a "fully qualified architect".  In Directive 2005/36/EU we see no legal basis however for this status of Annex V.7 (column 4)."

An inquiry has now been made to the EC Director General, Internal Market and Services for his observations on these comments.

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