The effects of the recognition have exclusively professional purposes, that is to say, they lead to the authorisation of the exercice of an specific profession within the receiving State.

The aim of the professional recognition of certificates is overcoming the obstacles, particularly those regarding qualifications that the citizen of another State may encounter when having access to the exercice of an specific professional activity in another State. Consequently, the main beneficiaries of professional recognition are professionals and not students.

The rules and regulations of recognition of certificates are exclusively applied to the citizens of the 25 Member States of the European Union and to the signatory countries of the European Economic Area, which do not belong to the European Union.