Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu has ruled out amending the minimum training requirements for health professions under Directive 2005/36/EC to create a shortened route for midwives to become nurses, instead pointing to the upcoming Skills Portability Initiative as the vehicle for improving recognition of professional qualifications. In a written answer on 22 July 2026 to a question from Polish MEP Marcin Sypniewski (ESN), Mînzatu acknowledged health workforce shortages but stressed that organising education and managing health services are Member State responsibilities. She noted that under Article 31(3) of the directive, bridges between health professions can already be set at national level for equivalent training, and that Member States may grant full or partial exemptions on a case-by-case basis. The Commission's Skills Portability Initiative, launched for public feedback in December 2025, aims under Actions 2 and 3 to modernise and speed up recognition processes for EU citizens and introduce common rules for attracting third-country talent.
An impact assessment will accompany the initiative, quantifying its effects on professional mobility and patient safety. However, Mînzatu explicitly stated that the Commission does not intend to modify any of the minimum training requirements for the five regulated health professions under the directive, including nurses and midwives. The answer provides no concrete timeline for the initiative's adoption, but signals that the Commission's focus is on procedural streamlining rather than structural changes to the directive's training minima. Stakeholders affected include midwives seeking career mobility, national health authorities facing staffing shortages, and EU institutions balancing integration with subsidiarity in health policy.