Be-Assist: the tool for the recognition of professional qualifications

Who is Be-Assist for?

The support centre informs and guides professionals who want to work in a regulated profession in a member state. A professional is a person who is fully qualified to work in their profession in a member state, and who wishes to work in the same profession in another member state.

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. This means that they can't take advantage of their rights under the professional qualifications directive. If the individual wishes to exercise the profession in Belgium, they may:

• contact the competent authority in Belgium (for accountants, this is the Institute of Certified Accountants and Tax Experts) regarding conditions for accessing the profession (recognition of qualifications, validation, access to professional training, etc.);

• find out about getting academic recognition (equivalence) for their foreign qualifications from the competent community (depending on their place of establishment):

• Wallonia-Brussels Federation (French community) (FR)
• Flemish community (NL)
• German-speaking community (DE)

What does Be-Assist do?

The support centre answers questions from professionals, by email or phone, concerning:

• regulated professions and their specific access conditions in Belgium;

• the procedures required in Belgium to obtain access to the exercising of a regulated profession based on professional qualifications acquired in another member state. Recognition of these qualifications is sometimes automatic, whereas sometimes evidence of qualifications or experience is required.

Be-Assist can also direct you towards the competent authority for different activities in Belgium or in another member state to provide you with a comprehensive response and effective 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 members states of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland. Therefore, Be-Assist aims to inform and guide these professionals in their professional recognition.

As a result:

• Be-Assist cannot issue any documents proving the recognition of professional qualifications. Be-Assist cannot make any rulings. This is subject to the exclusive competence of the competent authorities. However, Be-Assist can point you towards the appropriate authority.

• Be-Assist cannot offer any decision on equivalence. If you are looking for equivalence of a qualification issued outside of the European Economic Area in order to access a regulated profession in Belgium, you need to contact one of the following communities (depending on your place of establishment):

• Wallonia-Brussels Federation (French community) (FR)
• Flemish community (NL)
• German-speaking community (DE)

Be-Assist does not work with students and cannot provide information on training and education in Belgium. Information on training in Belgium is available from the French, Flemish and German-speaking communities.

How can Be-Assist be contacted?

You can contact Be-Assist via:

• Email: BE_assist@economie.fgov.be ;
• Telephone: +32 2 277 93 91 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9am-12pm and 2pm-4pm).

Be-Assist's services are free.