EU-trained specialist doctor: getting your specialty recognised in France

If you are an EU or EEA national and your specialist qualification was awarded in the EU in line with EU law and appears on the French list, it entitles you to specialist status in France. There is no prior authorisation to obtain: you simply apply for registration with the conseil départemental (departmental council) of the Ordre des médecins, France's medical council. If your basic and specialist qualifications fall short of those conditions but still allow you to practise in the country that awarded them, the route is an individual authorisation to practise in your specialty, granted by the Centre national de gestion (CNG). And if you are already registered in France and want to add a specialty, the specialist qualification rules for doctors, administered by the Ordre, apply. This guide takes each of the three cases in turn. For the registration documents and steps themselves, see our guide for EU-qualified doctors registering with the Ordre des médecins.

Will France recognise your specialty? Three possible situations

It all depends on your qualification and on where you are in the process. Find your row before you start gathering documents.

Do not mix up the first two rows: registration with the Ordre and authorisation from the CNG are separate procedures, with different decision-makers, time limits and appeal routes.

Not sure which row your specialist title falls into? Suxens helps EU doctors work out their route and put together a complete file first time. Join the doctors' waiting list →

Listed EU specialist title: specialist registration with the Ordre

This is the most common case. Under the order of 13 July 2009, specialist qualifications awarded in the EU in line with EU obligations and included in the list "give entitlement to specialist qualification in France". The list itself is now the annex to the order of 6 March 2020.

On the EU side, Directive 2005/36/EC (Article 26) only recognises automatically the specialties whose name appears in point 5.1.3 of its Annex V. So your specialty has to be listed there for the country that awarded your title.

What to do in practice:

• Check that your title is on the list annexed to the order of 6 March 2020, that it comes with a certificate of conformity from your home authority, or that it is covered by acquired rights.
• Check whether you need a certificate from your home country. The specialist qualification rules for doctors (order of 30 June 2004, Article 10) say that EU nationals applying for registration provide their specialist qualification together with a certificate from their home authorities confirming that they met the EU training conditions. The law itself does not require a certificate for a listed qualification, but the conseil départemental may ask you for one: check with them before you submit.
• Apply for registration with the conseil départemental for the area where you plan to have your professional residence, using the document list in our registration guide. Your qualifications must be translated by an approved or authorised translator (see our guide to sworn translation).
• Ask how your specialty will be recorded. Your specialty appears on your registration with the Ordre; ask the conseil départemental how it records it.

With a listed, compliant title, you do not need to apply to the CNG for authorisation. The qualification committees described below mainly deal with doctors already registered who want another qualification; to find out how your specialty will be recorded when you register, ask the conseil départemental.

Non-compliant specialist title: CNG authorisation to practise

Suppose your basic and specialist qualifications were awarded in an EU country and allow you to practise lawfully there, but do not meet the conditions for automatic recognition. You can then be authorised individually to practise in the specialty concerned (Article L4131-1-1 of the French Public Health Code). The director general of the CNG grants the authorisation on behalf of the minister, after consulting a committee. If your training shows substantial differences, you will be required to complete a compensation measure in the specialty: an adaptation period, an aptitude test, or both. This route involves no knowledge verification exams (EVC).

One practical point: you send the application to the CNG yourself. In a 2020 case, the Paris administrative court of appeal noted that no rule requires the Ordre to forward a doctor's application to the CNG.

What goes into the file

The order of 25 February 2010 sets out the file:

• the application form in Annex 1 of the order, showing the specialty;
• a legible photocopy of a valid identity document;
• a copy of your basic qualification and of your specialist qualification;
• where relevant, copies of any additional diplomas;
• any documents showing your continuing education, experience and skills (employment certificates, activity reports, operative logs and so on);
• for posts held outside France, a statement from the competent authority of that country, less than one year old, confirming that you have no sanctions against you;
• certificates from the authorities that awarded your qualifications, stating the level of training and, year by year, the content and hours of teaching and the content and length of completed placements. If you cannot obtain them, the committee's secretariat asks the awarding country for them.

Documents must be in French or translated by a translator approved by the French courts or authorised in an EU or EEA country; an EU national's identity document does not need translating. On its page for doctors, the CNG says the file is submitted online and should not be sent by post, and that you must provide both a basic and a specialist qualification. The 2010 order still refers to registered post: follow whatever the CNG's page says when you apply.

Once granted, the order authorising you to practise in the specialty counts as a specialist qualification under the specialist qualification rules for doctors. Your next step is to apply for registration with the Ordre.

Refusal or no answer from the CNG: how to appeal

The CNG acknowledges receipt within one month. If it has not answered four months after your file was complete, the application is rejected. Whether the refusal is explicit or implied, you can challenge it before the administrative courts within two months of notification or of the date the implied rejection arose. Those time limits only run against you if you were told the time limits and routes of appeal: in the decision itself or, for an implied rejection, in the acknowledgement of receipt of your file. This is a different path from a refusal of registration by the Ordre, which is challenged first before the Ordre's conseil régional.

A refusal or a silence from the CNG is not necessarily the end of your plans. Suxens can help you read the decision and prepare your next step with the right contacts. Join the doctors' waiting list →

Already registered: adding another specialist qualification

The specialist qualification rules for doctors (order of 30 June 2004) apply to a doctor already on the register who asks for a qualification, or for one different from the qualification first recognised. The steps are:

1. you send your request to the conseil départemental you come under;
2. it passes the request to the commission nationale de première instance for the specialty, which gives a reasoned opinion;
3. the conseil départemental decides;
4. if it refuses, you can appeal to the Conseil national of the Ordre within two months of notification; the Conseil national decides after hearing the commission nationale d'appel.

You may hold several qualifications, but you appear on the list of one specialty only, which the conseil départemental keeps. In a 2020 case, a doctor trained in another Member State and registered as a specialist in internal medicine had applied for a qualification in pulmonology: a conseil départemental examined the request after the first-instance committee's opinion, then the Conseil national did so after the appeal committee's opinion.

Special cases

Your specialty has no French equivalent or is not on the list

If your title is not on the list but comes with a certificate of conformity from your home authority, you go through registration with the Ordre, as described above. The Directive only recognises automatically the specialty names in Annex V, point 5.1.3. For other specialist training it refers to the general system, "solely for the purpose of recognition of the relevant specialisation". The CNG examines applications for authorisation in a specialty (Article L4131-1-1): contact it.

You only hold a basic medical qualification

The texts only say that this qualification gives access to specialist medical training. In a 2023 case, the Conseil d'État upheld the cancellation of a doctor's registration as a general practitioner when she held only a basic medical qualification from another Member State. In another case, an administrative court of appeal held that an application from a doctor in the same position did not fall under Article L4131-1-1. These are individual decisions, not general rules: ask the conseil départemental before you apply.

Your qualifications were obtained outside the EU, then recognised in a Member State

If you are an EU national, that recognition covers both your basic and your specialist qualification, and you have practised for three years in that country, an individual CNG authorisation in the specialty is possible, with no EVC.

You are not an EU or EEA national

The French Public Health Code opens direct registration (Article L4131-1) and the Article L4131-1-1 authorisation to EU and EEA nationals. If you hold another nationality and a qualification obtained in the EU, the CNG can authorise you to practise in some cases (Article L4111-2, I bis), with proof of your level of French: contact it before you apply.

French language

For registration, the law requires "sufficient knowledge" of French, without setting a level (Article L4112-2). On its page, the CNG asks for a French test only from applicants who are not EU nationals.

Frequently asked questions

Is my EU specialist qualification automatically recognised in France?

Yes, if you are an EU or EEA national and it was awarded in line with EU law and appears on the list set by ministerial order (currently the annex to the order of 6 March 2020): it then gives entitlement to specialist status. A title that is not listed but comes with a certificate of conformity, or is covered by acquired rights, also goes through registration. In each case, you apply directly for registration with the conseil départemental of the Ordre des médecins.

Do I need to go before a qualification committee?

The national qualification committees are part of the specialist qualification rules, which mainly concern doctors who are already registered and want another qualification. With a listed, compliant specialist title, you apply for registration with the conseil départemental: ask it how your specialty will be recorded.

Who authorises me to practise my specialty if my title does not comply?

The director general of the Centre national de gestion, on behalf of the minister, after consulting a committee (Article L4131-1-1 of the Public Health Code). You send the application to the CNG yourself; if your training shows substantial differences, it requires an adaptation period, an aptitude test, or both.

How long does the CNG have to decide?

It acknowledges receipt within one month. If you have no answer four months after your file is complete, the application is rejected, and you then have two months to go to the administrative courts.

I am already registered in France: can I add a second specialty?

Yes, through the specialist qualification rules: request to the conseil départemental, opinion of the national first-instance committee, decision by the conseil départemental, and a possible appeal to the Conseil national within two months. You may hold several qualifications but appear on the list of one specialty only.

Can I practise in France with only my basic medical degree, without a specialty?

The texts only say that this qualification gives access to specialist medical training. In a 2023 case, the Conseil d'État upheld the cancellation of a doctor's registration as a general practitioner when she held only a basic medical qualification from another Member State. This is an individual decision, not a general rule: ask the conseil départemental before you apply.

My specialty has no equivalent in France: what can I do?

Directive 2005/36/EC only recognises automatically the specialty names in Annex V, point 5.1.3; for other specialist training it refers to the general system, solely for the purpose of recognition of the specialisation. The CNG examines applications for authorisation in a specialty (Article L4131-1-1): contact it.

Official sources

• French Public Health Code, Article L4131-1-1 — authorisation to practise in a specialty
• French Public Health Code, Article R4111-14 — CNG decision and time limits
• Order of 30 June 2004 on the specialist qualification rules for doctors
• Order of 25 February 2010, Article 2 — application file for authorisation
• Order of 6 March 2020 — list of specialist qualifications
• Centre national de gestion — authorisations to practise for doctors
• Directive 2005/36/EC, consolidated version — EUR-Lex