Professional qualifications obtained in a Member State of the EU/EEA or in Switzerland can be recognised in Austria in order to provide proof of qualification as required for the exercise of regulated trades. If the intended activity is included in the EU/EWR-Anerkennungsverordnung the recognition procedure under Section 373c of the Gewerbeordnung 1994 (GewO 1994) will be used to decide whether this activity has actually been exercised in one of the mentioned states outside of Austria.
Recognition will be provided upon request by an official decision issued by the Provincial Governor of the competent Austrian Land (state). This decision, however, does not involve any entitlement to exercise the trade. To this end the requesting party must obtain a valid trade licence from the authority competent for the location.