Third country physicians holders of the EU Blue Card could practice their profession in Romania, according to a draft Emergency Ordinance (GEO) to amend Law 95/2006, republished, on the health system reform.

This draft GEO aims to transpose into Romanian domestic health legislation Directive 2013/55/EU amending Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications and the Regulation (EU) no. 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System ("the IMI Regulation”).

Third country physicians are currently not entitled to practice on Romania's territory, unless they are married to Romanian citizens, to citizens of a European Economic Area (EEA) state or of the Swiss Confederation, or when they hold a permanent residence in Romania or in one of the above-mentioned states.

The Emergency Ordinance will amend the current legislative framework, allowing third country nationals holding a Blue Card, issued in Romania or in another EU member state, to become members of the College of Physicians and to practice medicine as a paid profession within a medical unit with minimum 30% shortage in that speciality (as a compulsory condition during the first two years) or independently, based on a contest (after two years). The diplomas which ascertain the medical background education, issued in a third country, shall be recognised by the Ministry of Education and the titles of specialist physician shall be recognised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the College of Physicians in Romania, according to the norms on the recognition of diplomas, certificates and titles of physician issued by a third country.

The Romanian Association for Health Promotion (ARPS) together with 4 other non-governmental organisations have sent a number of comments and suggestions for improvement to the Ministry of Health regarding the draft GEO, aimed to achieve a more efficient use of the existing migrant human capital and to better cover the human resource shortage in the health sector in Romania, affected during the last years by the migration of Romanian physicians to other European Union states.

The signatory organisations requested that the following categories of citizens should be included in the scope of the GEO:

• Stomatologists and pharmacists from third countries. The current form of the draft GEO targets only third country physicians who become members of the College of Physicians in Romania, therefore excluding stomatologists and pharmacists.
• Persons who benefit from international protection and hold a qualification title in medicine.
• Family members of third country nationals who are residents in Romania.
  

Other requests for amendment of the GEO refer to:

• Derogation from the application of art. 15 par. 2 of GO 25/2014 included in art. 387 ind.5 of the draft bill for stomatologists and pharmacists. The article mentioned refers to the requirement to pay a salary at least 4 times higher than the average gross salary for highly qualified workers.
• Transposing in the draft bill the limitation resulting from art. 5 of Directive 2009/50/EC. Article 5 of Directive 2009/50/EC regarding the conditions of entry and stay for third country nationals in order to occupy highly qualified employment positions provides, for the professions where third country nationals are needed, that the salary threshold should be at least 1.2 times higher than the average gross salary in the respective member state.
• Correlating the provisions of art. 376 of Law 95/2006, consolidated, with the provisions of the other legal acts it interferes with: Law 122/2006 on asylum in Romania, consolidated, GO 44/2004 on the social integration of aliens, GO 25/2014 on the employment and secondment of aliens in Romania, GD 105/2016 on establishing the contingent per types of newly admitted workers, GEO 194/2002 on the regime of aliens in Romania. This involves correlating the draft GEO with the provisions related to the right to work of people with a form of international protection in Romania, as well as correlating the conditions for registering in the College of Physicians with those for obtaining the employment permit and the Blue Card for highly qualified workers.
• Fluidizing the procedure envisaged for employing third country physicians so as to avoid creating a bureaucratic vicious circle between the competent authorities in Romania: the employing medical unit, the College of Physicians in Romania and the General Inspectorate for Immigration.
  

The following organisations signed the official point of view conveyed to the Government for amending the draft GEO: Asociația Română pentru Promovarea Sănătății (The Romanian Association for Health Promotion - ARPS), Centrul de Cercetare și Comunicare Interculturală Iași (the Centre for Intercultural Research and Communication – CCCI Iași), Conect Association, Academia de Advocacy (Advocacy Academy) in Timișoara and Consiliul Național Român pentru Refugiați (Romanian National Council for Refugees - CNRR).

Additional information:

DRAFT Governmental Emergency Ordinance for amending and completing Law 95/2006, republished, on the health system reform (Romanian)
SUBSTANTIATION NOTE of the Governmental Emergency Ordinance for amending and completing Law 95/2006, republished, on the health system reform (Romanian)
Point of view regarding the draft Governmental Emergency Ordinance (GEO) for amending Law 95/2006, republished, on the health system reform, available on the Ministry of Health website. (Romanian)