Opposition to the amendment to enroll college graduates in professional bodies is taking hold and as it touches the backbone of New Democracy, the ruling party is trying to anticipate the next moves of chambers and public universities, referring to fake news and covering in the first phase the Minister of Education Niki Kerameos.
The ruling party claims first of all that there is no equivalence between degrees from foreign universities and those of Greek universities, arguing that applications will be submitted and a detailed check of the title and content of studies will be carried out before they are rejected or approved, as well as that it is possible to approve an application on the condition of previous examinations of the applicant in specific courses in our country's universities, the so-called compensatory measures.
It also claims that the terms and conditions for the recognition of professional qualifications are not changed. “It does not change anything as regards the substance of the examination of an application for recognition of professional qualifications. It is simply that the competent department of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs (the Independent Department for the Implementation of European Legislation) has been given back the responsibility for the recognition of professional qualifications, which had previously fallen to the professional associations/chambers.
From now on, the state will once again have the obligation and responsibility to examine the applications of the interested parties, the necessary supporting documents and to issue or not the relevant acts of recognition”, says in particular the relevant text of the Southwest, thus leaving spikes for the reactions, which implicitly (although without using harsh terms) attributes to the annoyance of associations and chambers due to guild interests in the control of applications.
The ruling party even relies on the restoration of the competence to the competent department of the ministry, that the European Commission has observed for years significant delays in the recognition of qualifications by the associations. It states that there are complaints «confirming the absence of response to applications for more than a year», in addition to the European Commission and the Ombudsman and the Ministry of Education.
The Fake News Observatory's memo even blames the associations and chambers not only for delays in recognition, but also for the issue of cooperation with the European authorities.
For their part, the associations and chambers emphasize that the Community directive on which the Ministry of Education “presses” in no way implies the recognition of colleges universally, while insisting that it is unacceptable to have no reasons for the professional bodies themselves to register their members and wonder how the process will be carried out more quickly by a ministry department, while leaving new spikes for serving interests by the leadership of the Education.
The ruling party also argues that it is not a question of «equivalence» of degrees, which is decided by the IOATAP, but of recognition of professional qualifications or equivalence, for access to the labour market only.
Finally, the Southwest pleads that at the moment a Greek graduate of a foreign university in a field which is regulated by law, e.g. physiotherapist, midwife, economist, engineer, can apply for recognition of professional qualifications in another EU country and work normally there, while in Greece his application for recognition of professional qualifications is simply not examined, is referred to the courts, the relevant association refuses to register him, and therefore the graduate cannot work with professional rights in his subject.
The Southwest lifts the glove, the clubs prepare a counterattack
“Of course, every application may not meet the conditions for recognition, but our country has an obligation to examine it and judge it positively or negatively. We cannot be «Europe à la carte», to want to take advantage of the important benefits of Europe, the ESPA, the Recovery Fund and so much more, and ignoring the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the principles of EU law”, the text concludes, picking up the gauntlet thrown down by chambers of commerce and professional associations.
Obviously, of course, the arguments of the text come from the Ministry of Education, which does not wish to retreat. But neither the chambers and professional associations are prepared to give up so easily and are reportedly preparing moves jointly with the public universities, which are also affected.
It is recalled that the Presidents of the Economic Chamber of Greece, of Technical Chamber of Greece and of Geotechnical Chamber of Greece, Konstantinos Kolias, George Stasinos and Spyros Mamalis, all elected under the “flag” of the Southwest, denounced in a joint statement Mrs Kerameos for a surprise move with an amendment to the «and five» and from the back door, which flattens the degrees of Greek economists, engineers, geotechnicians and other scientists. The Economic Chamber of Greece announced that it will take legal action to annul the amendment.
The professional associations have also called on MPs, economists, engineers, etc., to intervene on the issue, as the amendment came literally overnight and was passed without anyone in the parliamentary group of the Southwest having time to react.
Note that the Maximum has so far been left out of the debate, as the blue party opponents are targeting the Minister of Education, whose defence has been taken up by the party of the Southwest.
