§ 2.54 p.m.
§ Baroness Robson of KiddingtonMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in view of the lack of progress on the draft directive on the recognition of higher education diplomas (4109/86), they will urge the European Commission to resume working on sectoral directives for those professions where negotiations are already well advanced.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Lucas of Chilworth)My Lords, the Government attach importance to ensuring freedom of establishment for professions in the European Community. We support the objective of the proposed general directive for accelerating progress in this area. The proposal is under active consideration in Brussels. At the same time, we understand the preference which a number of professions in this country have expressed for a sectoral directive and we agree that this is an option that should not be ruled out.
§ Baroness Robson of KiddingtonMy Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply and welcome the Government's intentions regarding the general directive. Is the Minister aware that there is great concern among the profession, who are either close to or have achieved general agreement on a sectoral directive, such as the lawyers and physiotherapists? In particular the physiotherapists appear to be ready to proceed and the hold-up seems to lie with the Commission. In view of the fact that we have sectoral directives for doctors and nurses and that all the health related professions are perhaps more directly concerned with the safety of individuals in each country—in other words, with the safety of patients—it seems that a sectoral directive for physiotherapists would be a suitable course to pursue. Can the Minister tell me whether I am correct in saying that the brake on the proceedings for physiotherapists lies mainly with the Commission at the moment?
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthMy Lords, I am sorry to tell the noble Baroness that in fact she is not correct. I think that she and her colleagues on the Select Committee will know that sectoral directives have taken variously from 19 to 17 years to bring to fruition. Certainly it is not clear which directives—either that for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy or indeed the lawyers—are at a sufficiently advanced stage to be capable of an early agreement. The Commission has suggested that faster progress is likely to be made if we pursue the objective of the general directive to which Her Majesty's Government agree.
§ Lord Allen of AbbeydaleMy Lords, what the Minister has said emphasises the need for getting on with the general directive, because I assume that there is very little effort left over to complete the sectoral directive. May I ask him this question: the United Kingdom presidency will be coming to an end quite soon. When it does, what can we say we have achieved during our presidency as regards advancing progress on this important directive which could be so beneficial to this country? In particular, does he think that by the end of this year it will be possible for the Government to announce whether they have come to any view on the solution propounded by the Select Committee, which we debated on the 10th October?
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthMy; Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for his questions. I do not think it will be possible by the end of this year—in fact just short of two months—for us to state categorically our conclusion as to the Select Committee's report, which we found of great value, as indeed I intimated to your Lordships in our debate on the 10th October. So far as concerns the general position on the directive, by the end of our presidency we shall have achieved progress in identifying and segregating a number of practical problems, particularly those which 1 associate with the Answer that I gave to the noble Baroness. We shall have established that the route to recognition of various qualifications will be a common one, we have achieved recognition that we are talking about professional activities and not professions and we shall have completed nine meetings at official level.
§ Lord Allen of AbbeydaleMy Lords, is the Minister saying that both the general directive and the sectoral directives are months, if not years, away?
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthMy Lords, I think that sectoral directives are in fact quite a long way away. We hope that we shall be able to adopt a general directive before 1987 is out.
§ Baroness Robson of KiddingtonMy Lords, may I ask the Minister a supplementary question? I understand that the definitive text of the general directive has not yet been published because there appears to be a discrepancy
§ Baroness Robson of KiddingtonMy Lords, there is quite a discrepancy between the English, French. German and Greek texts. May I ask the Minister whether a definitive text is expected and, if so, when? I understand that the Council has met once, and I am sure that the House would be very interested to know whether any preliminary conclusions were reached at that first meeting, and when the next meeting of the Council on the subject will take place.
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthMy Lords, as I said to your Lordships, there have been eight or nine meetings at official level. It is those meetings which determine the differences in the texts, which are natural in such matters. One would anticipate a definitive text being available for Ministers' consideration during the course of next year.