Mobile medics? The mobility of doctors in the European Economic Area

The Treaty of Rome seeks to generate a common European market whereby all b arriers to the free movement of produce, capital, services and labour are r emoved. Current EU policy on the free movement of labour requires that heal thcare workers, who are EU citizens and meet certain training criteria, hav e the right to register to practice in member states other than the one in which they trained. This policy is underpinned by the EEC Directives. For e xample, the Medical Directive 93/16/EEC describes the framework for the mut ual recognition of medical diplomas, certificates and other evidence of qua lifications through out the European Economic Area (EEA). The potential imp act of this for health policy is clear-workforce planning and the demand fo r doctors, (and also nurses and other health care professionals), could be particularly affected by new forces impacting on their supply. This paper r eports on the reality of labour mobility today, and on the factors upon whi ch mobility depends, by the means of a case study which, investigated the m ovement into UK of doctors From the EEA. At a formal level there is mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of qualifications. However, formal and 'real life' recognition could be in tension equating i n policy terms to an implementation deficit. As a result, there is a 'mixed picture' which makes predicting the future (both for individual countries and for the European Union) even more difficult. Furthermore, different pol icy objectives have to be reconciled. Do we want high mobility; or do we wa nt to preserve national manpower planning? (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Irelan d Ltd. All rights reserved.