JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Fourth Chamber)
3 October 2000 (1)
(Right of establishment - Freedom to provide services - Doctors - Medical specialties - Training periods - Remuneration - Direct effect)
In Case C-371/97,
REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) by the Tribunale Civile e Penale di Venezia, Italy, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Cinzia Gozza and Others
and
Università degli Studi di Padova and Others
on the interpretation of Council Directive 82/76/EEC of 26 January 1982 amending Directive 75/362/EEC concerning the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications in medicine, including measures to facilitate effective exercise of the right of establishment and freedom to provide services, and Directive 75/363/EEC concerning the coordination of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in respect of activities of doctors (OJ 1982 L 43, p. 21),
THE COURT (Fourth Chamber),
composed of: D.A.O. Edward (Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, A. La Pergola and H. Ragnemalm, Judges,
Advocate General: P. Léger,
Registrar: H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar,
after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:
- the Italian Government, by Professor U. Leanza, Head of the Legal Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, and O. Fiumara, Avvocato dello Stato,
- the Spanish Government, by P. Plaza García, Abogado del Estado, acting as Agent,
- the Commission of the European Communities, by E. Traversa, Legal Adviser, acting as Agent,
having regard to the Report for the Hearing,
after hearing the oral observations of Cinzia Gozza and Others, represented by R. Mastroianni, of the Cosenza Bar, and P. Piva, of the Venice Bar, and of the Spanish Government, represented by N. Díaz Abad, Abogado del Estado, acting as Agent, at the hearing on 6 April 2000,
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 11 May 2000,
gives the following
Community legislation
'1. Full-time training of specialists
Such training shall be carried out in specific posts recognised by the competent authority.
It shall involve participation in all the medical activities of the department where the training is carried out, including on-call duties, so that the trainee specialist devotes to this practical and theoretical training all his professional activity throughout the duration of the standard working week and throughout the year according to provisions agreed by the competent authorities. Accordingly these posts shall be subject to appropriate remuneration.
Training may be interrupted for reasons such as military service, secondment, pregnancy or sickness. The total duration of the training shall not be reduced by reason of any interruption.
2. Part-time training of specialists
This training shall meet the same requirements as full-time training, from which it shall differ only in the possibility of limiting participation in medical activities to a period at least half of that provided for in the second subparagraph of point 1.
The competent authorities shall ensure that the total duration and quality of part-time training of specialists are not less than those of full-time trainees.
Appropriate remuneration shall consequently be attached to such part-time training.
National legislation
'Those admitted to specialised schools ... in connection with a full-time engagement for their training shall receive, throughout the duration of the course, excluding periods when the specialisation is suspended, a study bursary which in 1991 shall be ITL 21 500 000. From 1 January 1992, this amount shall be increased annually on the basis of the anticipated rate of inflation and shall be revised every three years by decree made by the Minister for Health ... on the basis of the improvement in the minimum wage scale applicable to the contracts of salaried medical staff employed by the national health service.
Main proceedings
'1. Does the provision in Directive 82/76/EEC under which both full-time and part-time training in specialist medicine is to be subject to appropriate remuneration fall to be construed, even for the period during which no specific rules were adopted by the Italian State, as having direct effect for trainee medical specialists so as to confer on them an unrestricted right, as against the competent authorities of the State, to receive appropriate remuneration corresponding to the work performed in the course of their professional training?
2. If the existence of the aforementioned right is recognised, what are the criteria for determining appropriate remuneration with regard to both full-time and part-time training activities?
Admissibility
Substance
- the obligation to provide appropriate remuneration for periods of both full-time and part-time training in specialised medicine is binding only in respect of the medical specialties which are common to all the Member States or to two or more of them and are mentioned in Article 5 or Article 7 of the 'recognition directive;
- that obligation is binding only if the conditions for full-time training set out in point 1 of the annex to the 'coordination directive, as amended by Directive 82/76, or those for part-time training, set out in point 2 of the annex to the 'coordination directive, as amended by Directive 82/76, are complied with by the trainee medical specialists;
- that obligation is unconditional and sufficiently precise in so far as it requires, for a medical specialist to be able to benefit from the system ofmutual recognition established by the 'recognition directive, that his training be full-time or part-time and remunerated;
- that obligation in itself does not, however, enable the national court to determine which body is liable to pay the appropriate remuneration or the level thereof.
The national court is required, however, when it applies provisions of national law adopted either before or after a directive, to interpret them as far as possible in the light of the wording and the purpose of that directive.
Costs
47. The costs incurred by the Italian and Spanish Governments and the Commission, which have submitted observations to the Court, are not recoverable. Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court.
On those grounds,
THE COURT (Fourth Chamber),
in answer to the questions referred to it by the Tribunale Civile e Penale di Venezia by order of 7 October 1997, hereby rules:
On a proper construction of Article 2(1)(c) of Council Directive 75/363/EEC of 16 June 1975 concerning the coordination of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in respect of activities of doctors and point 1 of the annex to that directive, as amended by Council Directive 82/76/EEC of 26 January 1982 amending Directive 75/362/EEC concerning the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications in medicine, including measures to facilitate effective exercise of the right of establishment and freedom to provide services and Directive 75/363, and of Article 3(2) of Directive 75/363 and point 2 of the annex to that directive, as amended by Directive 82/76:
- the obligation to provide appropriate remuneration for periods of both full-time and part-time training in specialised medicine is binding only in respect of the medical specialties which are common to all the Member States or to two or more of them and are mentioned in Article 5 or Article 7 of Council Directive 75/362/EEC of 16 June 1975 concerning the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formalqualifications in medicine, including measures to facilitate the effective exercise of the right of establishment and freedom to provide services;
- that obligation is binding only if the conditions for full-time training set out in point 1 of the annex to Directive 75/363, as amended by Directive 82/76, or those for part-time training, set out in point 2 of the annex to Directive 75/363, as amended by Directive 82/76, are complied with by the trainee medical specialists;
- that obligation is unconditional and sufficiently precise in so far as it requires, for a medical specialist to be able to benefit from the system of mutual recognition established by Directive 75/362, that his training be full-time or part-time and remunerated;
- that obligation in itself does not, however, enable the national court to determine which body is liable to pay the appropriate remuneration or the level thereof.
The national court is required, however, when it applies provisions of national law adopted either before or after a directive, to interpret them as far as possible in the light of the wording and the purpose of that directive.
Edward
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Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 3 October 2000.
R. Grass D.A.O. Edward
Registrar President of the Fourth Chamber
1: Language of the case: Italian.