alert mechanism

Who is warned and about what?

Article 56a(1) of Directive 2005/36/EC lists the professions concerned: physicians including general practitioners and specialists, nurses responsible for general care, dentists, veterinarians, midwives, pharmacists, other professions with an impact on patient safety, and activities in childcare and early childhood education. Notification is made when an authority or court prohibits or restricts the exercise of the profession. Paragraph 3 additionally covers forged training certificates discovered in the recognition procedure.

How does notification work?

The warning is sent via the Internal Market Information System IMI to all other member states, no later than three days after the decision is issued. It contains the person's identity, profession, deciding authority, scope, and duration of the measure. The person concerned is informed in writing simultaneously and may lodge an appeal or request a correction. If the measure lapses or expires, the warning must be deleted within three days. The mechanism was introduced by the amending directive of 2013.

What does this mean for graduates from EU countries?

For graduates from Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Malta, or the Baltic states, the mechanism means above all one thing: a professional ban does not stop at national borders. Those who lose their professional authorisation in one member state cannot simply apply for it anew in another. Conversely, the system also supports the large majority whose degrees from these countries are processed through automatic recognition, because it underpins the trust that justifies waiving substantive review.

What the mechanism does not do

It is not a public register, and not a database in which one could prove one's own clean record. Only competent authorities may access the warnings; employers have no access and cannot request information. Switzerland, as a non-member, does not participate in the IMI alert mechanism; there, oversight is exercised through the medical professions register and the MEBEKO. Warnings also only concern official or judicial decisions, not ongoing investigations or employment disputes. Whether a warning in a specific case was lawful is determined by the appeal procedure in the notifying state.