What Is Be-Assist?
Be-Assist is a support centre which assists citizens originating from a Member State to exercise their rights conferred by Directive 2005/36/EC concerning the recognition of professional qualifications, as amended by Directive 2013/55/EU (below "Professional Qualifications Directive").
Be-Assist was established in accordance with Article 57b of the Professional Qualifications Directive.
In the text below, the term "Member State" refers to any Member State that is part of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA) (EU + Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein) and Switzerland.
Who Is Be-Assist for?
The support centre informs and advises professionals who wish to practice a regulated profession in a Member State. A professional is a person who is fully qualified to practice their profession in a Member State and who wishes to practice the same profession in another Member State.
For example, to exercise their profession, a Member State requires an accountant to have a specific qualification and to have done an internship. In this case, an accountant from another Member State who has the qualifications required, but who hasn't completed the internship required is not fully qualified. Consequently, they cannot exercise their rights under the Professional Qualifications Directive. If this person wants to practice the profession in Belgium, they can:
- consult the competent authority in Belgium (for accountants, this is the Institute of Accounting Professionals and Tax Experts) regarding conditions for accessing the profession (recognition of qualifications, validation, access to professional training, etc.);
- enquire about getting academic recognition (equivalence) for their foreign qualifications from the competent community (depending on their place of establishment):
What Does Be-Assist Do?
The support centre answers questions from professionals, by email or by telephone, concerning:
- regulated professions and their specific access conditions in Belgium;
- the steps to be taken in Belgium to obtain access to practice a regulated profession based on professional qualifications gained in another Member State. Recognition of these qualifications is sometimes automatic; sometimes proof demonstrating qualifications or experience is required.
Be-Assist can also direct you to the relevant authority for different activities in Belgium or another Member State in order to ensure you have a comprehensive response and efficient processing of your request.
For example:
- A Spanish doctor who received his qualifications in Spain and who wants to work in Belgium can contact the support centre to find out about the appropriate procedure.
- An Italian engineer who received his qualifications in France can contact Be-Assist to find out if his profession is regulated in Belgium.
What Be-Assist Doesn't Do
Be-Assist only works with professionals originating from Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland. Be-Assist therefore aims to inform and advise such professionals in their professional recognition process.
Consequently:
- Be-Assist does not issue any documents proving the recognition of professional qualifications. Be-Assist does not make any decisions. This is subject to the exclusive competence of the competent authorities. However, Be-Assist can point you towards the authority to be contacted.
- Be-Assist cannot offer any decision on equivalence. If you wish to obtain an equivalence for a qualification issued outside the European Economic Area in order to access a regulated profession in Belgium, you must contact one of the following communities (depending on your place of establishment):
Be-Assist does not work with students and cannot provide information on training and education in Belgium. Information about training provided in Belgium is available from the following communities:
How to submit an application into Be-Assist?
Would you like to submit an application into Be-Assist easily and quickly? Then use our online application.
Please note that the application does not work with Internet Explorer. You should therefore use another browser.
How Can Be-Assist Be Contacted?
You can contact Be-Assist by telephone: +32 2 277 91 51.
Be-Assist's services are free of charge.
