§ Mr. Bernie GrantTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 5 April,Official Report, columns 805–6, (1) whether a person currently practising in the United Kingdom as either a qualified or unqualified Afro-Caribbean hairdresser will be allowed to practise as such in the other European Community countries after 1 January 1993; and whether he will make a statement;
(2) whether a person qualified and practising as an Afro-Caribbean hairdresser will be allowed to continue as such after 1 January 1993;
(3) whether a person not qualified in Afro-Caribbean hairdressing but practising as an Afro-Caribbean hairdresser will be allowed to continue as such after 1 January 1993.
§ Mr. Redwood[holding answer 8 May 1990]: The profession of hairdresser is not regulated by law in the United Kingdom and the completion of the single European market will not alter this.
The treaty of Rome already guarantees freedom for every EC citizen to work, to seek work or to set up business in any EC member state. However, member states are not at present obliged to recognise professional qualifications or professional experience gained in other member states, and often do not.
Two main initiatives have been taken to remedy this. First, Council directive 82/489/EEC on hairdressing already makes it easier in certain circumstances for hairdressers who have practised in one member state to meet vocational training requirements in another.
My Department is responsible for issuing the certificates specified in that directive. Second, the Commission has put forward a draft directive on a second general system for the recognition of professional education and training (COM(89) 372 of 8 August 1989) which is aimed at ensuring that all professional qualifications gained in one member state are recognised in another. The directive is currently under discussion in a Council working group.