One of the two big issues under discussion at the legal affairs and internal market committee is the recognition of professional qualifications, to create a single European directive to allow for the recognition of qualifications across a wide range of professions and sectors. Hitherto, individual directives have covered doctors, nurses, teachers, physiotherapists, lawyers and so on but we are now bringing in one single directive which will include all professions and all sectors. From the outside this might appear to be a good way of streamlining legislation to avoid the overlay of bureaucracy which can occur with some European legislation but in reality it fails to distinguish between the inherent differences in professions. For example, there is a difference between medical professionals and librarians, which is not intended in any way to demean or diminish the role of librarians. Doctors and nurses have duties and obligations with regard to the treatment of patients who need certainty about the quality and standard of those people.