Between September 30th and October 2nd 2025, members of EurHeCA—the association bringing together competent authorities from various health professions and chaired by Pascale MATHIEU, President of the French National Council of Physiotherapists—met in Brussels for several sessions of discussion and work focused on the mobility of healthcare professionals.
On September 30th, the association’s members had the opportunity to visit the European Parliament’s hemicycle in Brussels and engage with the institution’s staff to learn more about its role, composition, and how it differs from national parliaments.
On October 1st, a meeting with Claudia LOUATI, Policy Director at the European Patients’ Forum (EPF), allowed for the sharing of EurHeCA’s and EPF’s priorities, emphasizing the importance for both organizations that EU policies on healthcare professionals’ mobility prioritize patient safety above all. On the same day, EurHeCA members also met with Per Erik STANGE, Policy Advisor for the EPP Group in the European Parliament, notably responsible for health-related issues. This exchange provided EurHeCA with the opportunity to reiterate that the realization of a true “European Health Union” must be based on healthcare professionals.
The program of the day also included a meeting of the association’s administration board, followed by EurHeCA’s General Assembly. On this occasion, Marianne BENOIT TRUONG CANH, Vice-President of the French Midwives’ Council, was unanimously elected Vice-President of EurHeCA. During the General Assembly, members finalized their position paper, stressing the need to place patient safety at the heart of EU policies on healthcare professionals’ mobility and highlighting several issues with some of the tools provided by the directive on the recognition of professional qualifications. A presentation was also given on the political situation within the EU institutions and institutional developments concerning issues of interest to EurHeCA members.
Finally, on October 2nd, EurHeCA members welcomed Agata WALASZCZYK-TERRASSE and Marios PAPANDREOU, representatives of the European Commission’s DG EMPL, for a constructive exchange on the implementation of the directive on the recognition of professional qualifications. EurHeCA members presented several concrete cases of dysfunctions in the tools provided by the directive, particularly regarding the alert mechanism. The European Commission also shared updates on its ongoing work related to topics of interest to EurHeCA members, including the revision of midwifery training and the potential adoption of a common European training framework for physiotherapists.
The next General Assembly of the association will be held online next spring.
On 2 October 2024, EurHeCA held its administration board and General Assembly meetings in Brussels. EurHeCA is an association gathering the competent authorities of several health professions, chaired by Pascale MATHIEU, President of the French National Council of Physiotherapists. The main message conveyed by EurHeCA is the need to place patient safety at the heart of European policies on the mobility of healthcare professionals.
The administration board and the General Assembly meetings provided EurHeCA with the opportunity to update its statutes to comply with the new requirements of Belgian law, as the association is based in Belgium.
The General Assembly also allowed for a review of the ongoing European institutional renewal and the identification of new relevant stakeholders for EurHeCA within European institutions. An overview of important institutional developments on topics of interest for EurHeCA — such as mobility of healthcare professionals and European health related initiatives — was also shared with the association members.
Discussions among the members of the association were also an opportunity to identify the key messages EurHeCA should promote, and the actions to be taken in the coming months to convey these messages to the European institutions. In particular, the competent authorities within EurHeCA emphasized the need to provide the European Commission with concrete feedback, based on their experience, regarding the functioning of the tools provided by the Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications. EurHeCA intends to share this feedback with the European Commission, notably in the framework of the evaluation process regarding the implementation of the Directive that is now beginning.
An exchange with Claudia LOUATI, Policy Director of the European Patients’ Forum (EPF), then allowed EurHeCA members to present the topics of interest to their organizations at the European level. A discussion on EPF’s priorities for the coming years also took place.
Finally, the association members decided to organize an event in Brussels in 2025 to present the association and its work to Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and relevant European decision-makers.
On 3 April 2025, the administration board and the general assembly of EurHeCA, an association bringing together the competent authorities of several healthcare professions, chaired by Pascale MATHIEU, president of the National Council of the Order of Physiotherapists, were held online.
During this general assembly, two new members joined the association following a unanimous vote: the National Order of French Dental Surgeons and the Irish Dental Council. The arrival of these two new members in EurHeCA is proof of the dynamism of the work carried out by the association, always insisting on one key message: the need to put patient safety at the heart of European policies on the mobility of healthcare professionals.
The exchanges on 3 April also allowed EurHeCA members to discuss the evaluation of the implementation of the directive on the recognition of professional qualifications carried out by the European Commission, in which the association had the opportunity to participate through a response to a targeted consultation.
Furthermore, institutional developments on issues of interest to EurHeCA members at the European level were also presented. These discussions allowed EurHeCA to discuss and define its priorities and action topics for the upcoming months.
Finally, the members of the association decided to organize an event in Brussels in the fall of 2025, alongside the next general assembly of EurHeCA, to present the association and its work to relevant MEPs and European public decision-makers.
On Thursday April 25, 2024, the Board of Directors and the general assembly of EurHeCA, the association bringing together the competent authorities of several health professions at European level were held, under the presidency of Pascale MATHIEU, president of EurHeCA since 2018.
The Bulgarian Order of Pharmacists, the Belgian Order of Pharmacists, the Spanish Order of Physiotherapists, the French Order of Nurses, the French Order of Chiropodists-Chiropodists, the French Order of Pharmacists, the French Order of Sages -women, the Maltese Council of Pharmacists, the Polish Chamber of Physiotherapists, the Portuguese Order of Physiotherapists, the French Order of Masseurs-Physiotherapists, the European Federation of Nurses (EFN) and the Federation of European Dental Competent Authorities and Regulators ( FEDCAR) were present during this meeting.
Many themes were discussed including:
- The main developments at European level regarding EurHeCA topics of interest
- The European Commission's recommendation concerning the recognition of professional qualifications of third-country nationals by Member States
- Current initiatives linked to the directive on the recognition of professional qualifications
- Past and future actions of EurHeCA at European level.
The general meeting was notably an opportunity to elect the board of directors:
- Pascale MATHIEU is re-elected as president of EurHeCA
- Sébastien MOYNE-BREYASSAND was elected vice-president of EurHeCA
- Carolina MARTINEZ-BERGANZA will continue her mandate as vice-president of EurHeCA
- Svetoslav KRUMOV was re-elected treasurer
- Rien MARINUS was re-elected general secretary of EurHeCA.
The general assembly was notably an opportunity to recall EurHeCA's objective of contributing to better quality of care and promoting patient safety in Europe, through collaboration between the different European health orders.
The integration of all health professions into a potential future European strategy for health professionals has also been defined as a priority.
Pascale MATHIEU, president of EurHeCA: “While the European institutions wish to raise the ambition of creating a true “Europe of health” and the adoption of a European strategy for health professionals could be part of the program of work of the future European Commission, the members of EurHeCA wish to insist on the need to integrate all health professions which work to guarantee the quality of care for European patients and public health.
The richness of the regular exchanges within our association indeed prove the interest and the necessity of bringing together all health professions – this is one of the key messages that our association wishes to continue to convey to decision-makers. European audiences! »
This association EurHeCA (European Health Professionals’ Competent Authorities) has been created in 2011 and consists of European health professionals’ competent authorities.