We had a nice break. Now back to reality. Back to lobby! First, getting ready for a new EU legislation: the Proportionality Test Directive. Although the nurses see opportunities to strengthen nursing as a profession, many stakeholders are nervous about this new legislation. Even the European Parliament IMCO and ENVI Committees are discussing to exclude the Healthcare Professionals from the scope of the Directive proposal. S&D, EPP, Alde,… are having internal talks to in- or exclude the Healthcare Professionals. Let’s see how the amendments and political negotiations will influence the final vote. Equally important is the call for tender on the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications, and in particular the need for a delegated act to modernise Annexe V. This is a crucial study, and whoever gets it, the outcomes will have an opportunity to influence nursing as a profession, knowing that the study, aiming to map and assess developments in the profession of nurses responsible for general care – one of the professions under Directive 2005/36/EC, will provide a proposal for amendments to the Directive, should the assessment prove it appropriate. The EFN is looking forward to strengthen the united voice of nurses by making sure a wide range of stakeholders, regulators, unions, CNOs, academics, deans, teachers,… are preparing the nursing qualifications to respond to societal challenges, and making sure nurses and nursing drive change.
These two files make it obvious that the European Commission DG GROW is a strong DG, impacting positively on nursing. It has always been like this, and this since 1968, when the nursing Directive was established. We can only hope that DG GROW continues seeing nursing as a profession that delivers high quality and safe care, within a single market that strengthen health systems within the EU and Europe.