Group 1: EU/EEA trained, automatic recognition or acquired rights

 
 You belong to Group 1 if you trained in the EU or EEA and meet  the  “automatic recognition” or “acquired rights provisions of the  EU Directive  2005/36/EC (the Directive). This Directive sets out  the  minimum training  standards for nurses and midwives to  practise in  their country of training  and across the EU. It lists the  dates  adopted by each country to  implement the EU standards  for the  training of general nurses and  midwives. This date is  known as the  reference date.

Automatic recognition

If you trained in an EU country, as a general nurse or a midwife, then your training may meet the “automatic recognition route to registration” set out in the Directive. If you started your training on or after your country’s reference date, we may be able to automatically register you when you apply to register as a nurse or midwife.

To check what date your country implemented the Directive, please refer to the table below which lists countries in the EU and EEA. All of the countries listed have implemented the training standards in the Directive. If you trained in one of these countries on or after what is called the “reference date” then you may also have an automatic right to registration.

Acquired rights

If you trained in the EU or EEA before the reference date for your country, then you may have “acquired rights” to registration based on your post-registration employment experience as a general nurse or midwife.

The term “acquired rights” means that if you have a certain amount of post-registration experience as a nurse or midwife you may have a right to join the Register. To check this, please contact the “competent authority” in the country where you trained. This is the organisation within each country which is responsible for registering nurses and midwives. In Ireland, the competent authority is NMBI.
 

Country	Reference date for General Nursing	Reference date for Midwifery
Austria	01 January 1994	01 January 1994
Belgium	29 June 1979	23 January 1983
Bulgaria	01 January 2007	01 January 2007
Cyrpus	01 May 2004	01 May 2004
Croatia	01 July 2013	01 July 2013
Czech Republic	01 May 2014	01 May 2004
Denmark	29 June 1979	23 January 1983
Estonia	01 May 2004	01 May 2004
Finland	01 January 1994	01 January 1994
France	29 June 1979	23 January 1983
Germany	29 June 1979	23 January 1983
Greece	01 January 1981	23 January 1983
Hungary	01 May 2004	01 May 2004
Iceland*	01 January 1994	01 January 1994
Italy	29 June 1979	23 January 1983
Latvia	01 May 2004	01 May 2004
Leichtenstien*	01 May 1995	01 May 1995
Lithuania	01 May 2004	01 May 2004
Luxembourg	29 June 1979	23 January 1983
Malta	01 May 2004	01 May 2004
Netherlands	29 June 1979	23 January 1983
Norway*	01 January 1994	01 January 1994
Poland	01 May 2004	01 May 2004
Portugal	01 January 1986	01 January 1986
Romania	01 January 2007	01 January 2007
Slovakia	01 May 2004	01 May 2004
Slovenia	01 May 2004	01 May 2004
Spain	01 January 1986	01 January 1986
Sweden	01 January 1994	01 January 1994
Switzerland**	01 January 2002	01 January 2002
United Kingdom	29 June 1979	23 January 1983

Countries marked with an asterix (*) are not members of the EU but are members of the EEA.
**Switzerland, while not an EEA member, has mutual recognition of nursing and midwifery qualifications

English Language Competence

As a Group 1 applicant, you do not have to provide proof that you can speak English as part of the
application process. 

European legislation does not prevent an employer from carrying out an assessment of an
individual nurse or midwife’s English language competence or from asking a nurse or midwife to produce formal certification of such competence.