Professional titles more equivalent between Switzerland and Germany
New Swiss-German bilateral agreement will reflect developments in work-related education in both countries and extend its scope of application
Switzerland and Germany have signed a new agreement for the mutual recognition of professional titles.
For more than 80 years, the two countries have maintained a system of facilitated mutual recognition of professional titles.
In order to maintain this proven practice and extend it to other areas in the future, the State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation of the Swiss Confederation, Martina Hirayama, and the Minister of Education of the Federal Republic of Germany, Anja Karliczek, have signed a new agreement, previously approved by the Federal Council on February 3, 2021, which updates and extends the existing agreement.
Switzerland and Germany are united by close economic ties, resulting in high cross-border mobility of skilled workers.
It is therefore important that professional qualifications be recognized as equivalent in the other country for the purposes of exercising a given profession and access to continuing education. For this reason, the two states have updated the existing convention.
Facilitated procedures for mutual recognition
The new legislation reflects developments in vocational training in both countries and extends the scope of application.
More holders of a professional qualification will be able to benefit from easier conditions and procedures for determining the equivalence of their qualification.
Tägermoos, and a very old treaty between Baden and Thurgau…
The bilateral agreement with Germany complements the existing European system for the recognition of professional qualifications, in which both Switzerland and most European countries participate.
The new agreement is based on the particular affinity of the two vocational training systems and on a shared understanding of the concept of quality and the importance of this type of training.
Towards a new dual input to education for work
With this contribution to the permeability of their training systems, the two countries are sending a clear signal for the strengthening of dual vocational training at national and international level.
The agreement in question, which was signed in Berlin on February 10, 2021, will enter into force as soon as the German Bundestag has enacted the relevant implementing legislation in Germany.
After the signing of the agreement, the State Secretary, Martina Hirayama, and the Minister of Education, Anja Karliczek, explored the possibilities of further deepening cooperation in the fields of education and research in both a bilateral and European context.
