Mutual Recognition of Qualifications

When a supplier qualified in one European country attempts to bid for a contract in another, one of the most immediate obstacles is the question of whether their certificates, licences, and professional credentials will be recognised. Mutual recognition of qualifications addresses this directly: under EU law and related bilateral agreements, evidence issued by a competent authority in one member state must be accepted by contracting authorities in other member states, provided it demonstrates equivalent standards.

What is Mutual Recognition of Qualifications?

The principle has two overlapping dimensions in public procurement. The first is procedural: during the tender process, a contracting authority cannot require a foreign supplier to obtain domestic certificates when equivalent evidence already exists from a recognised authority in the supplier's home country. This is reinforced by Article 59 of Directive 2014/24/EU, which establishes the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) as a standardised self-declaration mechanism that defers the requirement to produce original certificates until the contract award stage.

The second dimension is professional: for regulated professions (architects, engineers, medical professionals, auditors), Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications governs how member states treat each other's credentials. A civil engineer licensed in Austria has a right to have that qualification assessed for equivalence in any other EU member state.

In practice, this means:

• A contracting authority in the Netherlands cannot insist on a Dutch NEN certification if a German supplier can demonstrate compliance with an equivalent German DIN standard or EN harmonised standard.
• An accountancy firm from Ireland does not need to requalify in Portugal to participate in a Portuguese public contract, although local regulatory requirements for work performed in Portugal may still apply.
• Evidence of financial standing issued by a bank in one member state must be accepted as equivalent to locally-issued evidence, where the content is substantively the same.

Cross-border procurement becomes significantly more practical when this principle is consistently applied.

Why it matters for bidders

Without mutual recognition, cross-border tendering would require suppliers to obtain a parallel set of certificates for every market they wished to enter. The administrative cost would be prohibitive. Mutual recognition reduces this cost substantially, making it realistic for a supplier to participate in tenders across EEA states and EFTA states with documentation they already hold for domestic purposes.

The principle is not automatic in every case. Where a buyer insists on a specific domestic certification, suppliers should cite the relevant directive article and, if necessary, raise the matter through the contracting authority's clarification process or with the relevant national oversight body.

Example

A Spanish security services company bids for a building security contract in Belgium. The Belgian authority initially requests a Belgian security firm licence. The Spanish company provides evidence of its authorisation under Spanish security industry law and cites Directive 2014/24/EU Article 59 and the mutual recognition principle. The Belgian authority accepts the Spanish evidence as equivalent and the company proceeds to evaluation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does mutual recognition mean my certificates are automatically valid everywhere?

Not automatically. The principle requires that foreign evidence be assessed for equivalence. In most cases, a contracting authority must accept equivalent foreign certificates, but the supplier may need to demonstrate equivalence if the document is not on a recognised equivalence list or is from a regulated profession with specific local requirements.

Does mutual recognition apply to ISO certifications?

ISO standards are internationally harmonised, so ISO certificates issued by an accredited body in any EU member state should be accepted by contracting authorities across the EU without question. The mutual recognition issue arises more commonly with national standards and professional licences that have no international equivalent.

What happens if a contracting authority refuses to recognise my qualifications?

The supplier should raise the issue through the procurement's clarification question process before the deadline. If the refusal persists, a challenge can be submitted to the national review body (the competent jurisdiction for procurement remedies) or a complaint can be filed with the European Commission if the refusal appears to constitute a systematic barrier to single market access.