31 January 2018

Two years after the introduction of the European Professional Card, Italian authorities have approved more than 450 applications out of 1000 submitted by professionals. The new electronic procedure adopted by the EU in order to promote European workers’ mobility, so marks a new stage - as in each experimentation, showing positive results but also aspects to improve -. National Coordinators will discuss such issues in the coming days in Brussels, so as to make an overall assessment.

The EPC procedure applies to the professions of nurse, pharmacist, physiotherapist, mountain guide and real estate agent.

The 2017 data processed by the Department for European Policies show that both incoming and outcoming applications are decreasing, while the number of delivered cards has sharply increased (298 delivered cards out of 515 applications). The figures refer both to European professionals wishing to practise their profession in Italy and to Italian professionals moving to another EU Member State.

The profession of mountain guide stands out both for the number of submitted applications (over 40%) and delivered cards (70%). In most cases they refer to temporary and occasional provision of services in the Italian Alps. On the contrary, all other professions show a downward trend as compared to 2016, especially among nurses.

The European Professional Card is an on-line procedure aiming at simplifying the system of recognition of professional qualifications obtained by professionals in their own country.  Although the system helps saving time and costs, Italian authorities report that number of applicants keep preferring the traditional paper-based procedure.