Ukraine Report 2025 published by the European Commission on November 4 as part of the 2025 Communication on EU enlargement policy, confirms significant progress of our country on the path to the European Union membership. At the same time, the report emphasizes that Ukraine should make progress in aligning with the EU acquis on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

The Interstate Consultants Engineers Guild has been studying the issue of mutual recognition of qualifications for a few years, as the increasing number of international projects and expected growth of investments in Ukraine’s reconstruction require understanding and practical application of mechanisms to involve foreign specialists in the implementation of construction projects. These issues were once again raised during the meeting on the implementation of European project implementation experience, which took place on November 5.

Currently, the procedure for admitting foreign specialists to work and employment, including employees of foreign companies on the territory of Ukraine, is regulated by Laws of Ukraine “On employment of the population,” “On the legal status of foreigners and stateless persons,” “On immigration,” and the Labor Code of Ukraine.

Requirements for foreign workers can be divided into several main categories: legal stay, work permit, education (including recognition of documents), remuneration, and qualification requirements. Simultaneously, all procedures and requirements for foreign specialists to work in Ukraine, as well as for overseas companies, are regulated by the labor and education legislation in the same way for all professions and fields of activities. A separate issue is the confirmation of qualification requirements, which do have industry-specific features for regulated professions (for example, certification).

According to the Constitution of Ukraine, foreigners and stateless persons who are legally staying in Ukraine enjoy the same rights and freedoms, and bear the same obligations, as citizens of Ukraine. Therefore, laws, government acts, and professional standards apply not only to national specialists, and foreigners can obtain certificates on equal terms with citizens of Ukraine. In addition, foreign specialists can hold positions in unregulated professions such as team leader, project manager, consultant, and others, without obtaining certificates.

“At the same time, we are convinced that the regulation of free access to staff and service markets should be carried out in view of European approaches laid down, in particular, in Directive 2005/36/EС on the recognition of professional qualifications, which establishes rules for access to professional activities based on professional qualifications obtained in the territory of another country,” noted ICEG President Oleksandr Nepomnyashchyy during the meeting dedicated to adopting the European project implementation practice.

Amendments made to this Directive in 2013 allow the involvement of foreign specialists in performing the work through obtaining the European Professional Card (EPC), which is promising for engineering professions in construction. On May 9, 2025, the Government approved the Action Plan to prepare the introduction of the European Professional Card in Ukraine.

International practice of staff certification by bodies accredited according to ISO/IEC 17024 allows the NAAU to conclude agreements under which staff certification bodies can, in accordance with Article 45 of the Law of Ukraine “On accreditation of conformity assessment bodies,” issue a conformity document based on the results of assessment conducted by a foreign accredited body. Such a Mutual Recognition Agreement for certificates has been concluded between the signatories of the EA Multilateral Agreement and the NAAU.

Certification of persons on the basis of ISO/IEC 17024 is also introduced by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC). ICEG has established close cooperation with FIDIC Credentialing Ltd, which is the certification body of FIDIC.

ICEG Vice President Svitlana Reva informed the meeting participants that as a member of EFCA, ICEG is joining the development of other documents in this area:

– The Common Training Framework (CTF), considered by the European Commission as part of the strategy to improve the single market, aimed at addressing issues related to cross-border recognition of engineering qualifications and promoting professional mobility;

–  “The Union of Skills” initiative, implemented within the EU Competitiveness Compass, which focuses on promoting and modernizing recognition processes for regulated professions, including by means of digital tools.

At present, there is still no agreement on mutual recognition of professional qualifications between Ukraine and the EU, but the engineering community should be open to joint work when implementing projects with foreign specialists, competitive in the domestic market of engineering consulting services, and prepared to provide high-quality services in European countries. Therefore, key recommendations to ICEG members offered as a result of the meeting are:

1. To speak a foreign language (English or the language of an EU country);
2. Use internationally recognized forms of construction contracts;
3. Master new construction organization technologies (BIM, integrated project delivery (IPD), risk management, new software, etc.).