The Gazette 1975

be specified. The aim is that, if one is qualified in a profession in a Member State, and has also practical professional experience, one may be trusted to per- form one's duty. A project relating to the Accountants' profession has been prepared by the Commission. It does not apply to the free movement of that profession, which will be tied by the Fourth Directive on Company Law. The project further only applies to the accountants who are regulated by statute. Transitional measures relating to them, and also to tax advisers, are now before the Council of Ministers. The Pharmaceutical Profession has been helped by the passing of a Second Directive relating to the free movement of pharmaceutical products. Minimum quali- fications have been laid down at national level for manufacturing pharmaceutical products; here provision is made for the free movement of goods and not of persons. The negotiations are at a very delicate stage and might be accepted by the Council of Ministers. Altogether nine directives relating to pharmacy were proposed; four of these were withdrawn in 1974, but five still subsist. Mr. John Cooke, Barrister-at-Law, said that on the whole the professions had made little progress as regards adopting directives relating to their liberalisation. More than 40 directives had been issued, but few dealt with the liberalisation of the professions. Politicians, who have to protect their livelihood, acquire entrenched sensibilities and it is thus preferable that officials of the Commission should deal with the professions. There are many individual professionals who are genuinely concerned with the expansion of exceptions to the right of establishment. In France for instance, qualified veterinary sunrgeons cannot practise without obtaining an official "Mandat sanitaire" from the Ministry of Agriculture. He then described in detail the decisions in the Reyners and Binsbergen cases. A most modest draft directive on the legal pro- fession has been produced. It may be just possible to liberalise the proceedings in Court, as written procedure is paramount on the Continent. The problem of con- sultation with local lawyers of another Member State is most important. If, as in the Reyners case, you were lulled into a false sense of security, and caught napping, it would be all the worse for you. It is therefore essential that all the professions should have close connections with the civil servants of the Department which deal with them. It is unfortunate that the relations of the legal professions with the Department of Justice have not been as happy as they might be, but, after the Reyners case, it is hoped that matters will improve, and that a final and definite procedure relating to the liberal- isation of the legal profession will emerge. Mr. Devine, an answer to questions, emphasised that the notion of "establishment" implies physical presence, whereas that of "services" does not. It was difficult to state whether an exclusion clause could be applied in the case of an organisation, which, while not having a monopoly, yet insists on compulsory membership. The Directives as such are always directed to the Member Government, whose function it is to ensure that the various professions will admit qualified members with-

out restrictions on nationality. The expression "the competent authority" usually meant the Government, but the Government could delegate its functions to someone else. Senator Michael O'Higgins presided at the next lecture which was given by Mr. Franklin O'Sullivan, solicitor, President of the Federation of Professional Associations. It was stated that there is in fact no direct representations for the profession within the European Community. The politicians are unwilling to give the professions too much scope, as they are afraid that the unions would become too powerful. By setting up the Economic and Social Committee, there was supposed to be only one institutionalised institution which was to consist allegedly of producers, farmers, workers and professional occupations. It was to be noted how Governments persistently refused to nominate repres- entatives of the professions to this Committee. No proper reason had been advanced by these self-seeking politicians for adopting this narrow attitude, but if the politicians wanted the professions to advance their ideas of the European Community, it was essential for them to get rid of their unwarranted bias and to give full representation to the professions. Irish civil servants were generally happy to consult with professions con- cerned, but some departments, like Industry & Com- merce and Transport & Power, lacked legal expertise. We must note that the professions were deliberately being left in a backwater, and that, although in theory the Commission was prepared to talk to anyone, this was nothing more than a backdoor access. Dr. Whelan, Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Public Service, then stressed that there was an essential need for an effective dialogue between the Government and the professions. The word "dialogue" does not relate to pressure groups, but objective pro- fessional groups. The professions must objectively have a real interest in the good of the Community. Ireland's efforts in helping the professions will depend on how far the professions can supply useful sources of infor- mation to Irish civil servants to counteract arguments by the Community bureaucracy. A weakness is that the professions are scattered, and it was essential for each of them to respond to any representations made by the revelant Ministries. The principle of Community dialogue affecting the European Community was essential. On a political dimension, one had to dis- tinguish between the institutional dialogue of Govern- ment Departments and the inter-personal dialogue of the professions. In the Community decision process, while political decisions were made behind closed doors, it was essen- tial that dialogue should take place on purely technical questions and in political decisions where adminis- trative problems were involved. There was no use ex- pecting dialogue if the professions themselves did not display professionalism which at all times was being kept up to date. It was also essential that the input from die professions must concentrate upon the most essential areas at national level. Government Depart- ment must not be bogged down by such munutiae that they have not time to consider professional represen- tations properly; they must have enough professionals themselves to deal adequately with the professions. 10