Shortage of skilled medical staff (cepInput)

Many EU Member States are experiencing a shortage of health professionals. In the first quarter of 2020 alone, there were 185,658 vacancies in the health and social services in Germany. The clarifications provided by the Commission, for example on the exceptional early awarding of degrees, are one possible measure to address this shortage. However, the quality standards must be preserved. To this end, the scope of the Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications for instance in the case of admission procedures for professions without EU-wide minimum requirements should not be fully exploited, as otherwise the safety of citizens and patients at a particular high level could no longer be guaranteed.