Access of non-Belgians to regulated professions

The access to the regulated professions is a competence shared between the Federal Authority and the Communities. By virtue of article 6, § 1, VI, 5th paragraph, 6°, of the special law of 8 August 1980, the federal legislator sets the rules concerning access and conditions of aptitude relating to most of the regulated professions practice. The rules concerning the specialised educators-accompanists fit within the framework of this federal competence.

By virtue of article 2 of the Law of 19 March 1971 on the equivalence of foreign degrees and certificates of study, the right to exercise a regulated profession can be also extended to foreign nationals. Within this framework, the Minister of Science Policy is competent for the architects.

According to the European directives, the Member States must offer the possibility of access to the regulated professions to nationals of other EU member countries. In Belgium, these competencies are spread among a huge number of authorities and ministries. In order to ensure co-ordinated implementation of these European directives, the Secretary General of the OSTC was appointed as federal co-ordinator by the Council of Ministers on 5 April 1996.

Contact:

Mr. J. Nelis
Federal Science Policy - Coordination
Tel.: +32 (0)2 238 34 54