Common training standards for physiotherapy planned.

The European Commission is continuing to advance the mobility of healthcare professionals: for the profession of physiotherapists, it is planning the introduction of a common training framework (CTF). A corresponding delegated act has been announced for the third quarter of 2026. The objective is to expand the automatic recognition of professional qualifications across the EU, thereby simplifying and accelerating procedures and reducing administrative burden. Against the backdrop of workforce shortages in the healthcare sector and the importance of the free movement of workers within the internal market, this represents an important initiative.

More mobility – significant administrative burden

Physiotherapists are among the most mobile health professions in Europe. More than half a million people work in this profession across the EU, and their number has steadily increased in nearly all Member States over the past decade. At the same time, physiotherapy is a regulated profession in almost all EU countries, meaning that a relevant qualification or registration with a competent authority is required to practise – in Germany, for example, with the Medical Service of the Health Insurance Funds (“Medizinischer Dienst der Krankenkassen”). Recognition of professional qualifications is currently carried out mainly through complex case-by-case assessments, which involve considerable administrative effort and, in some cases, lengthy procedures. A common European training framework could help address these challenges and significantly facilitate access to the labour market within the EU.

Common standards, shared opportunities

In its feedback to the Commission, the German Social Insurance (DSV) explicitly welcomes the European Commission’s initiative to develop a common training framework for physiotherapists. A harmonised framework can help simplify recognition procedures, promote workforce mobility and strengthen the quality of physiotherapy care across Europe.

From the DSV’s perspective, this would bring concrete benefits for Germany: recognition procedures could be accelerated and standardised, administrative burdens for authorities and health insurance funds reduced, and transparency and comparability of qualifications improved. In Germany, more than 212,000 physiotherapists are currently practising, with demand continuing to grow.

Taking into account a dual training structure

At the same time, the DSV emphasises the importance of adequately reflecting national specificities in education systems. In Germany, training is provided either through a three-year vocational school programme or through a Bachelor’s degree programme of at least six semesters. Against this background, the DSV recommends that a common European training framework should include two qualification levels within the European Qualifications Framework (EQF): EQF level 4 for vocational training and EQF level 6 for academic training. Such differentiation would enable European harmonisation without undermining well-established national structures, while also ensuring broad access to training.

Background:

The initiative is based on Article 49a of the EU Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Directive 2005/36/EC). Following its revision in 2013, the Directive introduced the possibility, under certain conditions, to establish common training frameworks enabling the automatic recognition of professional qualifications. The Directive governs the mutual recognition of professional qualifications within the EU and constitutes a key foundation for the free movement of workers, as well as the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services. Its objective is to ensure that qualifications acquired in one Member State can be used in another, despite national differences in access to and the exercise of regulated professions. Key instruments include automatic recognition and the European Professional Card.