Recognition of professional qualifications: driving instructor diploma

Having graduated in Portugal in 2017 and practised his profession for more than two years in Portugal, a Portuguese driving instructor moved to Luxembourg and applied for recognition of professional qualifications by the Ministry of National Education, Children and Youth in Luxembourg (Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, de l’Enfance et de la Jeunesse, “MENJE”). However, his recognition was refused by the MENJE. The complainant therefore turned to SOLVIT Portugal, which contacted SOLVIT Luxembourg.

The refusal was contrary to Luxembourg law, because of failure to state the reasons for the decision, and to Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications, since the profession of driving instructor is a regulated profession in Portugal. According to this Directive, once an applicant is fully qualified to practise a profession, according to the legislation of the State of origin (Portugal), they can be authorised to practise it in all EU Member States. The host State may refuse such recognition only in exceptional cases.

Thus, the MEN should have compared the Portuguese and Luxembourg driving instructor training and taken into account the applicant’s professional experience. If the authority finds that substantial differences exist, it should propose a test to make up for these differences. If the comparison of the training courses reveals no substantial differences, then the diploma must be recognised.

Following SOLVIT Luxembourg’s intervention, the MEN agreed to reassess the applicant’s file and to compare the Portuguese and Luxembourg training courses in order to decide on the application for recognition of professional qualifications. The case was therefore closed as “resolved” following the issuance of a new decision by the MENJE on 25 January 2022, recognising the applicant's Portuguese training as equivalent to the Luxembourg diploma of professional competence (DAP), motor vehicle driver instructor.