EU applications after 31 December 2020

The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 and entered a transition period to negotiate a new relationship with the EU. This transition period will end on 31 December 2020. The UK and EU are currently negotiating the terms of a future relationship, including the recognition of professional qualifications.

We currently operate in accordance with the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive 2005 (European Union Directive 2005/36/EC on the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications, sometimes called ‘MRPQ’) which forms part of the negotiations.

When the transition period comes to an end on 31 December 2020, it is expected that the directive will be removed from many professional regulators’ legislation. In lieu of a negotiated agreement between the UK and the EU, Social Work England and many other regulators in the UK will not have a legislative basis for continuing to recognise EEA qualifications. This has already been provided for in legislation by the UK government (The European Qualifications (Health and Social Care Professions) (Amendment etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019).

The government’s guidance for European Economic Area (EEA)-qualified and Swiss health and care professionals practising in the UK after 1 January 2021 applies to individuals who have an EEA-awarded or third country-awarded EEA-recognised health or care qualification who will be submitting a registration application after 11pm (GMT) on 31 December 2020. Unlike other regulators, we do not operate an ‘automated’ system of recognition. Instead, as of 1 January 2021, we will consider EEA qualifications using our international route to registration.

We are currently consulting with interested groups as we amend our rules to reflect the changes to our registration routes from 1 January 2021 and will publish our amended rules and consultation response in December.