It is too generic to say that the amendment proposed will provide automatic recognition of qualifications from outside the EU. The Medical Council will recognise qualifications obtained outside the EU only when the applicant is a citizen of an EU member state and those qualifications have already been recognised by a member state.

The qualifications must fulfil criteria that are defined and harmonised throughout the EU. The Medical Council is bound to recognise qualifications that have already been recognised within the EU and therefore will still be working in the patients’ best interest, said the DOI statement.