C-234/97

2. The general Community regime on recognition of professional qualifications, 4. Article 1(e) of Directive 92/51/EEC which complements the secondary mea- defines a 'regulated profession' as 'the sures adopted in respect of specific profes- regulated professional activity or range of sions, is set out in Council Directive 89/48/ activities which constitute this profession in EEC of 21 December 1988 on a general

1 — OJ 1989 L 19, p. 16. * Original language: English. 2 — OJ 1992 L 209, p. 25.

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a Member State'. 3 Article 1(f) of that — pursuit of a professional activity relat- Directive defines a 'regulated professional ing to health, in so far as remuneration activity', in terms almost identical with and/or reimbursement for such an Article 1(d) of Directive 89/48/EEC, in activity is subject by virtue of national relevant part, as: social security arrangements to the possession of evidence of education and training or an attestation of com- petence.

'a professional activity the taking up or pursuit of which, or one of its modes of pursuit in a Member State, is subject, ... .'4 directly or indirectly, by virtue of laws, regulations or administrative provisions, to the possession of evidence of education and training or an attestation of competence.' The second subparagraph of Article 1(f) of Directive 92/51/EEC provides that, where a professional activity is pursued by members of a private professional association or organisation which confers educational It continues, to provide: awards and titles and enforces rules of professional conduct, and which is recog- nised in a special form by a Member State in order to promote and maintain high professional standards, the professional activity in question is deemed to be regu- lated. 5 'The following in particular shall constitute a mode of pursuit of a regulated profes- sional activity:

State to take up or pursue that profession competent authority in a Member State, on the same conditions as those which that it attest to successful completion of a apply to its own nationals', if that national post-secondary course of at least one year's satisfies one of two conditions: duration, as well as any professional train- ing which is an integral part of that course, and that it have prepared the holder for the pursuit of his profession. 6 However, a host Member State may require an applicant to provide evidence of professional experience where the period of education and training mentioned above is at least one year less '(a) if the applicant holds the diploma, as than that required in the host Member defined in this Directive or in Directive State, 7and to complete either an adapta- 89/48/EEC, required in another Mem- tion period of up to three years or to take ber State for the taking up or pursuit of an aptitude test where the theoretical and/ the profession in question in its terri- or practical matters covered by his educa- tory, such diploma having been awar- tion and training differ substantially from ded in a Member State; or those covered by the diploma required in the host Member State. 8

(b) if the applicant has pursued the profes- sion in question full-time for two years, or for an equivalent period on a part- time basis, during the previous 10 years in another Member State which does 6. The Prado is an autonomous adminis- not regulate that profession within the trative organ with legal personality meaning of either Article 1(e) and the attached to the Spanish Ministry of Culture first subparagraph of Article 1(f) of and under the direct authority of the this Directive or Article 1(c) and the responsible Minister. Article 6 of the col- first subparagraph of Article 1(d) of lective agreement concluded by the Prado Directive 89/48/EEC, and possesses with employee representatives in 1988 in evidence of education and training respect of employees subject to labour law 9 which [conforms to specified condi- provided that staff required to have a tions].' university-level qualification are to be

recruited exclusively on the basis of the 7. Royal Decree No 104/88 of 29 January results of tests in a public competition. The 1988 regarding recognition of foreign titles agreement also provided that restorers and studies provides for an expert commit- must possess a title granted by one of two tee to compare in every case the studies Spanish schools of restoration, or a foreign undertaken abroad and those prescribed in title recognised as equivalent by the com- the same field in Spain for the grant of the petent body. 10 This condition appears to title in question, and to make appropriate reflect the content of a series of ministerial recommendations to the relevant minister. decrees, the most recent being a decree of Recognition may be granted subject to 14 March 1989 of the Minister for Educa- conditions, such as the taking of examina- tion and Science, 11 Article 6 of which tions in areas not covered by the foreign provided that the title of restorer of cultural course. goods be granted to persons who graduated from the Spanish school of conservation and restoration, which title was to be an indispensable condition for participation in competitions for posts as restorers in State centres. However, this decree was repealed by a decree of 28 October 1991 of the Minister for Education and Science, 12 and no similar condition now exists in Spanish law. Although the exercise of a profession is, in general terms, subject to regulation 8. Mme Fernández de Bobadilla (herein- only by measures having the rank of laws in after 'the applicant') is a Spanish national. the Spanish hierarchy of norms, it appears She received a BA degree in the History of from the order for reference, none the less, Art from Boston College in the United that collective agreements such as that in States. The applicant subsequently received question constitute one of the formal an award as a result of a public competition sources of law and may prescribe a parti- organised by the Prado which enabled her cular qualification or level of studies for to pursue post-graduate studies in fine art restoration, specialising in works of art on access to a specific professional category or paper, at Newcastle Polytechnic (now the post. Such conventions are binding erga University of Northumbria at Newcastle) in omnes, at least in the sense that they affect the United Kingdom, where, after two a person such as the applicant who does not years of full-time study, both practical and have the prescribed qualification. theoretical, she was granted the degree of MA in Conservation of Fine Art. This is one of only two such advanced courses in the United Kingdom, whose graduates are recognised as being qualified to work in museums and galleries, including national institutions, and fill most senior posts in that field. 13 However, the United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry has

9. The applicant then spent a number of years working on temporary contracts both with the Prado (from 1989 to 1992, and in 1995) and with other galleries in Spain, 11. On 27 November 1996, the applicant specialising in the restoration of works of applied to the Juzgado de Lo Social (Social art on paper. She also worked for a time in Court) No 4 de Madrid (hereinafter 'the Italy and successfully followed a number of national court') for the annulment of the supplementary professional courses in provisions of the Prado collective agree- Spain, the United States and Japan. ment concerning the qualifications required of restorers. As regards the application of Community law, the national court took the view, in reliance on the Court's judg- ment in Kraus v Land Baden-Württem- berg, 15 that the legal situation was not 10. A vacancy for a permanent post as purely internal to Spain. The national court restorer of works of art on paper was also considered that Article 48 of the advertised by the Prado on 17 November Treaty could apply to a collectively nego- 1992. 14 Article 4(b) of the notice of com- tiated agreement between parties whose petition stated that candidates were relationship is subject to private law, 16 required to comply with the conditions set especially given the status of collective out in the collective agreement then applic- agreements in Spanish law. able. The applicant was informed by a letter of 3 February 1993 that she had not been permitted to compete for the post because she did not have the requisite title of restorer of cultural goods. She had applied to the Ministry of Education and 12. The national court did not deem art Science on 9 October 1992 for recognition conservation and restoration to be a regu- of her MA degree as equivalent to one of lated profession in Spain. It suggested that, the prescribed Spanish titles. On 9 Decem- if a particular qualification could be ber 1993, the expert committee which required of candidates, there was no alter- compared her studies with those required native to the long, complex and rigorous for the grant of her title recommended that recognition be made conditional on her 15 — Case C-19/92 [1993] ECR I-1663, hereinafter 'Kraus·. 16 — Case 36/74 Walrave v Union Cycliste Internationale [1974] ECR 1405 (hereinafter 'Walrave'); Case C-415/93 Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de football Association 14 — It appears that this post was subject to ordinary labour and Others v Bosman and Others [1995] ECR I-4921 law, rather than to the special regime for State officials. (hereinafter 'Bosman').

13. The national court referred the follow- ing question to the Court for a preliminary ruling pursuant to Article 177 of the Treaty: 15. Finland suggested that the profession of restorer of fine art might, in fact, be deemed to be regulated within the meaning of Directives 89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC. Account had to be taken of different national sociological realities and, in this case, of the character of collective agree- 'Does the provision contained in the Col- ments in Spanish law. Community law lective Agreement of an Autonomous Orga- accepted that collective agreements could nization of the Spanish State which in certain circumstances be used to imple- requires, for pursuit of the profession of ment directives, 17 and the achievement of Restorer (a non-regulated profession), prior the Directives' objectives might be frustra- validation of the academic qualification ted if they did not apply where conditions obtained in another Community coun- were imposed on the exercise of a profes- try — such validation involving a compar- sion by these means. ison of the study programmes in Spain and in the other country and the passing of theoretical and practical tests in the sub- 17 — Case 143/83 Commission v Denmark [1985] ECR 427, paragraph 8; Article 2(4) of the agreement on social policy jects in the Spanish programme of studies concluded between the Member States of the European which do not appear in the programme of Community with the exception of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, annexed to the studies of the other Community country in Protocol to the Treaty on social policy.

16. As a result, the Court posed a question limited to be considered to regulate the to the parties, the Commission and the exercise of the profession of restorer, even Member States, to be addressed at the in respect of access to the public service. hearing, regarding whether a profession could be deemed to be regulated where a decree required persons to hold a specified title in order to exercise that profession in the public service, or where a collective agreement entered into by an autonomous State organ required that title, or an equivalent, of persons practising that pro- fession in their employment. Unfortunately, despite reference having been made in the report for the hearing to the Ministerial Decree of 14 March 1989, which was cited by the Ministerio Fiscal in its written observations, the Court was only informed 17. Concerning the application of Arti- cle 48 of the Treaty, the applicant submit- at the hearing of its repeal by the Decree of ted that the requirement of validation of 28 October 1991, thus rendering the first her United Kingdom qualification was a part of the question superfluous. Neither grave restriction of her freedom of move- the applicant nor Spain considered that a ment, particularly because it failed to take collective agreement could regulate a pro- account of her professional experience and fession; it simply reflected 'the conditions further studies after the award of that prevailing on the employment market in degree, contrary to the Court's rulings in that Member State'. 18 Spain argued that a Vlassopoulou .19 and Aranitis, 20 and collective agreement involved the State because she was not entitled to opt for a solely in its capacity as employer, and that practical demonstration of her skills. Fin- even regulation by law of the qualifications land made a similar argument. The appli- required for exercise of a profession in the cant also stated that paragraphs 3 and 4 of public service would not constitute regula- Article 48 of the Treaty did not permit tion for the purposes of the Directives if its Spain to maintain such an obstacle. The exercise in other contexts was unaffected. Commission submitted that the specifica- The Commission submitted that State mea- tion of the qualifications required of sures prescribing possession of particular employees, including the possibility of qualifications in order to practise a profes- recognising equivalent foreign qualifica- sion in the public service would constitute a tions, was an appropriate subject of auton- regulation of one of the 'modes of pursuit' omous negotiations among the social part- of that profession, as referred to in Arti- ners, and did not, in itself, appear to have a cle 1(d) of Directive 89/48/EEC and in discriminatory effect. However, it took the Article 1(f) of Directive 92/51/EEC. How- view that the validation process was ill- ever, it argued that the ambit of the adapted to the assessment of qualifications collective agreement in question, affecting and experience for professional purposes, as it did a single organ of the State, was too as required by the Vlassopoulou and Ara- nitis judgments, mentioned above.

18. The Ministerio Fiscal and Spain argued his employment, while unions were entitled that the qualification requirement for the to press for the fixing by collective agree- post of restorer was indistinctly applicable, ment of objective employment criteria. and that permitting the holders of foreign qualifications which did not correspond to those granted in Spain to compete for such posts would constitute reverse discrimina- tion against persons who had pursued comparable studies in Spain. However, the agent for Spain was unable to name any such comparable Spanish courses at the IV — Analysis hearing. Spain argued that it was entitled to impose such conditions in the interests of preserving its national heritage (in the case of the Prado, a reservoir of art of world 19. I should state at the outset that I agree renown), a general interest already recog- with the national court's view that the nised by the Court in the 'Tour guides' present case falls within the field of appli- cases. 21 All of the conditions set out in cation of Community law, because it Unectef v Heylens 22 for assessment of the involves a national of a Member State equivalence of qualifications were who, owing to the fact that she has lawfully respected by the commission on validation. resided on the territory of another Member Furthermore, comparison of two academic State and has there acquired a vocational qualifications should not be confused with qualification, is, with regard to her State of the logically subsequent task of assessing a origin, in a situation which may be assimi- person's professional capacity; only at the lated to that of any other persons enjoying latter stage should periods of practical the rights and liberties guaranteed by the experience be taken into account. This Treaty. 24 was not contradicted by the judgment in Vlassopoulou, because the Court stated that Member States could require that an individual prove that he had aptitudes not attested to by his academic qualification, 23 20. Although the national court has acted as the applicant in this case was required to on the basis that the profession of fine art do. In any event, an employer was entitled restorer is not a regulated profession in to impose whatever conditions he thought Spain, that assumption has been challenged necessary for the performance of tasks in by Finland. The Court pursued this matter by posing a question, in advance of the hearing, to the parties, the Commission and the Member States. This approach was influenced by the mistaken assumption that Spanish law continued to reserve the title of restorer of cultural goods and access to State posts to graduates of the Spanish 21 — Case C-154/89 Commission v France (1991] ECR I-659, courses mentioned above. Furthermore, it paragraph 17; Case C-198/89 Commission v Greece 1991] ECR I-727, paragraph 21. 22 — Case 222/86 [1987] ECR 4097, paragraph 13, hereinafter 'Heylens'. 24 — Kraus, loc. cit., paragraph 15; see also paragraphs 16 to 23 — Loc. cit., paragraph 19. 18.

(i) The status of collective agreements

22. I shall first address the question whe- The application of Directives 89/48/EEC ther a provision of a collective agreement between an organ of the public adminis- and 92/51/EEC tration and employee representatives can constitute a 'law, regulation or administra- tive provision' which, directly or indirectly, subjects one of the modes of pursuit of a professional activity to the possession of specified qualifications. In my opinion, it can, depending on the legal and factual context, for reasons close to those put 21. Directive 92/51/EEC is the more imme- forward by Finland. diately relevant of the two Directives. Directive 89/48/EEC is confined to diplo- mas granted upon completion of courses of 25 — Kraus, loc. cit., paragraphs 17 to 23. at least three years' duration. Although 26 — See the fourth and fifth recitals in the preamble to Directive 92/51/EEC appears to be princi- Directive 92/51/EEC.

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25. The order for reference states that 24. Where a collective agreement is atten- collective agreements, including provisions ded by such consequences, whether by on access to particular professional cate- operation of law or through its approval gories or posts, are one of the formal by a public body, it should, in my view,· be deemed to be a law, regulation or admin- istrative provision capable of regulating a 27 — It is quite another question whether the Directives would be directly effective against private employers, if the professional activity. This reasoning applies national implementing measures could not be interpreted to extend to such situations. As Advocate General van irrespective of the identity of the parties to Gerven observed in his Opinion in Case C-188/89 Foster and Others 11990] ECR I-3313, paragraphs 11 and 16, the the collective agreement, that is, the parti- definition of the State or of public authority in Community cipating employers or employer-representa- law varies according to the underlying purpose or reason- ing of particular rules. tive bodies may be either public or private. 28 — See paragraph 14 above. The Community legislator also In either case, what is important is that an implicitly recognised the potential normative character of collective agreements in Article 7(4) of Council Regulation agreement between actors in the labour (EEC) No 1612/68 of 15 October 1968 on freedom of market is given more general application, movement of workers within the Community, OJ, English Special Edition, First Series 1968 (II), p. 475, most recently thereby affecting third parties, including considered by the Court in Case C-15/96 Schöning- Kougebetopoulou v Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg workers from other Member States, which [1998] ECR I-47, paragraph 12.

sources of law in Spain and have the effects the individual features of the legal situation just described, at least as regards persons in a host Member State is in keeping with employed under ordinary labour law. By the admonition in the seventh recital in the virtue of the legal force given to the preamble to Directive 89/48/EEC that the collective agreement, it would appear that term 'should be defined so as to take the Prado was not, in fact, free to admit account of differing national sociological persons to the competition for the post of situations'. It should also be noted that the fine art restorer who did not possess the Directives expressly refer to another form qualifications specified. Thus, the agree- of attributed public authority. Where a ment affected persons not party to it either professional activity is pursued by members directly or through membership of a repre- of a private professional association or sentative body. This distinguishes the situa- organisation which confers educational tion in the case of an enforceable collective awards and titles and enforces rules of agreement producing effects on third par- professional conduct, and which is recog- ties very markedly from that in Aranitis. 29 nised in a special form by a Member State In that case, there was no legal regulation in order to promote and maintain high of the use for professional purposes of the professional standards, the professional academic title in question. In practice, only activity in question is deemed to be regu- persons holding that title sought such lated. 31 As the recital states, such associa- professional employment and, thus, nearly tions and organisations 'cannot invoke the entire body of practitioners of the their private status to avoid application of profession possessed the title. The applicant the system provided for by this Directive'. had experienced difficulties with his quali- Because a collective agreement can, in the fication awarded in another Member State circumstances outlined above and by virtue and sought to have it declared equivalent to of the attribution of public normative the host-State title, in reliance on Directive authority, have an effect on access to a 89/48/EEC. The Court stated that profession equivalent to that of regulation '[w]hether or not a profession is regulated of a professional activity by a publicly depends on the legal situation in the host Member State and not on the conditions recognised professional association or prevailing on the employment market in organisation, I would reject Spain's argu- that Member State'. 30 ment that a collective agreement is invari- ably purely private in character. I would add, finally, that a flexible approach is envisaged by the language of the Directive where it emphasises even indirect effects of 'laws, regulations and administrative pro-

28. None the less, as has also been sug- gested by the Commission, State regulation of a professional activity must apply at some minimum level of generality. This arises from the scheme of the Directives 27. It is also necessary, however, in the light themselves. The definition of a regulated of the circumstances of the present case and professional activity, and, consequently, of of the question posed by the Court before a regulated profession, is not only essential the hearing, to assess what kinds of educa- for the purposes of identifying the circum- tional requirements can constitute regula- stances in which a host Member State is tion of a professional activity. It is my view obliged to comply with the Directives, it is that, if direct or indirect (including dele- also central, by virtue of Article 3 of both gated) State provisions of a legal, regula- Directives, to the determination of the tory or administrative character require educational qualifications which the host persons to possess evidence of education State is obliged to recognise. The applicant and training or an attestation of compe- has not, however, established that she tence in order to take up or pursue a meets the requirements of either Arti- professional activity only in certain limited cle 3(a) or (b) of Directive 92/51/EEC. contexts, rather than for all purposes, the professional activity in question may, none the less, constitute, to that extent, a regu- lated professional activity for the purposes of Article 1(f) of Directive 92/51/EEC. I agree with the Commission that this was envisaged by the Community legislator through its reference to a professional activity 'or one of its modes of pursuit'. 32 The specific possibility that the State might 29. Article 3(a) does not refer expressly to subject the exercise of a professional activ- a regulated profession or professional activ- ity in the public service, or with the ity, but it speaks, in the case of Directive assistance of public funds, to educational 92/51/EEC, of a 'diploma... required in another Member State for the taking up or pursuit of the profession in question in its 32 — The same analysis applies, subject to appropriate adjust- territory', which implicitly invokes the test ment with regard to the educational qualifications required, to Article 1(d) of Directive 89/48/EEC. in Article 1(f) of that Directive.

30. It would be possible to argue, as legislator, expressed in Article 1(f) of Direc- regards the host State, that a professional tive 92/51/EEC, to provide for situations activity is regulated by the State within the where the exercise of a professional activity meaning of Article 1(f) of Directive 92/51/ is regulated only in part (regarding one of EEC where a Community worker who its modes of pursuit) in the host State with applies for a post encounters a legislative, the need, for the purposes of Article 3, to regulatory or administrative provision identify whether the exercise of a profes- requiring a particular qualification, even if sional activity is, in general and abstract that requirement only applies to the post or terms rather than in a particular concrete the employer in question rather than being case, regulated in the Member State where of more general application. a Community worker has previously stu- died or worked? The response to this question must take into account the differ- ing sociological realities in the Member States and, in particular, their different mechanisms of distributing legislative, reg- ulatory and administrative authority 31. However, such an approach does not between various levels of government. 33 enable it to be determined whether a In my view, where an organ of government, professional activity is regulated in the whether national or regional, specifies the Member State where a qualification was qualifications required for such aspects of awarded, for the purposes of Article 3(a) of the exercise of a professional activity as fall Directive 92/51/EEC, or whether it is not within its competence, either for the pur- regulated in the Member State where an poses of public sector employment or for applicant has acquired professional experi- ence, for the purposes of Article 3(b) of the purposes of general economic life, the that Directive. In such circumstances, it profession in question should be deemed to would be inconsistent with the Directives' be regulated for the purposes of the Direc- underlying motivation of mutual recogni- tives. If such general regulation, at any level tion of Member States' requirements for the of government, of the qualifications for exercise of professions if a narrowly applic- pursuit of a professional activity in either able regulation, confined, perhaps, to a the public or private sectors (whether, in single aspect of professional activity or to a the latter case, as an employed person or in single institution, in the Member State a self-employed capacity) were to escape where the Community worker's qualifica- the reach of the Directives, the achievement tions were obtained, were deemed to give of their objectives would very probably be rise to an obligation on the part of the host fatally frustrated. Similarly, for reasons State to permit him to enter any branch of outlined above, the imposition of require- the corresponding profession, no matter ments of similar scope on the basis of how demanding its own regulations might legislative, regulatory or administrative be.

33. The educational requirement at issue in the present case is, however, as far as the Court has been made aware, confined to a single autonomous State institute. For that reason, it does not appear to me to have a sufficiently general scope of application to constitute, on its own, regulation of a Article 48 of the Treaty professional activity in Spain. It seems to me that the situation would be different if the national court found a similar legacy of the now-repealed ministerial decrees in the provisions of collective agreements entered into individually by other public museums 35. Both before and since the coming into and galleries, especially if this were found force of the Directives, the Court has to be the consequence of an administrative consistently stated that Member States are policy adopted by the Ministry of Educa- also subject to certain obligations, by virtue tion and Culture or by some other compe- of Article 48 of the Treaty, in respect of the tent organ of government, or if these recognition of diplomas awarded elsewhere agreements were held to have been ratified in the Community. It has always acknowl- by such a governmental body. However, the edged that '[i]n the absence of harmonisa- Court has not been informed of any such tion of the conditions of access to a phenomenon. particular occupation, the Member States are entitled to lay down the knowledge and qualifications needed in order to pursue it and to require the production of a diploma certifying that the holder has the relevant knowledge and qualifications'. 34 However, it has also observed that the lawful imposi- 34. By reason of the limited scope of tion of such requirements, even if applied application of the collective agreement without any discrimination on grounds of described in the order for reference, and nationality, constitutes a restriction on the in the absence of evidence of legislative, effective exercise of the freedom of estab- regulatory or administrative provisions lishment or of the freedom of movement of (including, possibly, a collective agreement workers guaranteed by the Treaty, and that or a series of such agreements) of more general application, I conclude that the profession of fine art restorer is not a 34 — Heylens, loc. cit, paragraph 10; see also Vlassopoulou, loc. cit., paragraph 9; Case C-104/91 Borrell and Others regulated profession in Spain for the pur- [1992] ECR I-3003, paragraph 7 (hereinafter 'Borrell').

36. The Court stated, therefore, in Vlasso- poulou that a Member State which receives a request to admit a person to a profession subject to such rules 'must take into consideration the diplomas, certificates and other evidence of qualifications which the person concerned has acquired in order If that comparative examination of diplo- 35 — Case 11/77 Patrick v Ministre des Affaires Culturelles mas results in the finding that the knowl- [1977] ECR 1199, paragraph 10; Case 71/76 Thieffry v edge and qualifications certified by the Conseil de l'Ordre des Avocats à la Cour de Paris [1977] ECR 765 (hereinafter 'Thieffry'), paragraph 16; Heylens, foreign diploma correspond to those loc. cit., paragraphs 11 ana 12; Vlassopoulou, loc. cit., paragraph 15; Borrell, loc. cit., paragraph 10; see also Kraus, loc. cit., paragraphs 28 and 3 1 . 36 — Thieffry, loc. cit., paragraphs 12 and 15; Case C-106/91 39 — Loc. cit., paragraph 16; see also Borrell, loc. cit., para- Ramrath v Ministre de la Justice [1992] ECR I-3351, graph 1 1 ; Commission v Spain, loc. cit., paragraph 12; paragraphs 29 and 30; Kraus, loc. cit., paragraph 32. Aranitis, loc. cit., paragraph 3 1 . The Court referred in 3 7 — On the general interest in the protection of national Heylens, loc. cit., paragraph 1 1 , to such an obligation, treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological where the Member State's laws and regulations provided value, see Article 36 of the Treaty and Case C-180/89 for the possibility of recognition of equivalent foreign Commission v Italy [1991] ECR I-709, paragraph 20. diplomas. 38 — Vlassopoulou, loc. cit., paragraph 15; Borrell, loc. cit., 40 — See also Heylens, loc. cit., paragraph 13, which was cited paragraph 10. by the Court.

required by the national provisions, the thus, by logical extension, of the imposition Member State must recognise that diploma of restrictions through the medium of a as fulfilling the requirements laid down by collective agreement between a public body its national provisions. If, on the other and the representatives of its employees. As hand, the comparison reveals that the the Court stated in Walrave, 'Article 48. . . knowledge and qualifications certified by extends. . . to agreements and rules which do the foreign diploma and those required by not emanate from public authorities'. 43In the national provisions correspond only any event, in the present case, the reference partially, the host Member State is entitled in the notice of competition to the condi- to require the person concerned to show tions set out in the collective agreement that he has required the knowledge and permits the restriction to be attributed qualifications which are lacking. In this directly to the Prado. regard, the competent national authorities must assess whether the knowledge acquired in the host Member State, either during a course of study or by way of practical experience, is sufficient in order to 38. Moreover, the requirements of this prove possession of the knowledge which is case-law have also been held to apply to lacking.' 41 situations where a particular qualification is not, as such, required in order to gain access to a profession. In Aranitis, the Court was concerned with the classification of a person with a Greek diploma in

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45 — Ibid., paragraph 32. 46 — Emphasis added.

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For that reason, even periods of study or of circumstances of the present case, mere practical experience outside the Commu- comparison of the academic composition of nity should, in my view, be taken into the applicant's United Kingdom degree and account where they complement the Com- of the corresponding Spanish curriculum munity worker's basic qualification does not reflect her actual position, and acquired in a Member State other than does not suffice in order to determine her the host State; otherwise, a false picture eligibility to compete for a post in the may emerge of the Community worker's public service defined by reference to the actual knowledge and aptitudes. Spanish title or equivalent foreign qualifi- cations.

47 — Heylens, loc. cit., paragraph 13; Vlassopoulou, loc. cit., 48 — Loc. cit., paragraph 17; Vlassopoulou, loc. cit., para- paragraph 17; Borrell, loc. cit., paragraph 12; Commis- graph 22; Borrell, loc. cit., paragraph 15. sion v Spain, ioc. cit., paragraph 13. 49 — Loc. cit., paragraph 39.

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V — Conclusion

44. In the light of the foregoing analysis, I recommend that the Court respond as follows to the question referred by the Juzgado de Lo Social No 4 de Madrid: