What the European Commission Has Proposed

On 15 September 2026, the European Commission adopted a proposal to establish a Common Training Framework (CTF) for physiotherapists under Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications. The proposal sets out minimum knowledge, skills and competence requirements that physiotherapy training must meet across participating Member States, with the objection period running until 15 November 2026.

The measure is structured as a draft delegated directive. Its core function is to reduce cross-border recognition barriers: a physiotherapist trained under the common framework in one participating Member State would benefit from more predictable recognition when seeking access to the profession in another. This represents a loosening of mobility friction at EU level, not a tightening of domestic licensing conditions within any single country.

Where Fitness and Wellness Providers Are Affected

Physiotherapy is a regulated healthcare profession, and the CTF proposal is formally distinct from any licensing change for personal trainers, fitness instructors or non-clinical wellness practitioners. However, the boundary between physiotherapy and certain fitness-adjacent services is precisely where the practical implications arise.

Providers delivering rehabilitation exercise, corrective exercise programming, post-surgical conditioning or clinical wellness services operate in a space that national regulators in several Member States already treat as requiring physiotherapy qualifications in specific circumstances. The CTF proposal, once operative, would sharpen that boundary by giving competent authorities in host countries a clearer benchmark against which to assess whether a practitioner qualifies under the physiotherapy framework or falls outside it.

For training schools, this creates a compliance consideration rather than an immediate regulatory obligation. Curricula that position graduates to work in rehabilitation or clinical exercise settings should be reviewed against the competence requirements the Commission lists in the proposal, particularly where those graduates may seek work across borders.

How Cross-Border Practice Currently Works

Under the existing professional-qualifications system, host Member States may require a prior declaration from a professional providing temporary or occasional services. Under Article 7 of Directive 2005/36/EC, once that declaration is submitted with the required information, the professional may begin providing services without waiting for prior approval. The CTF proposal does not dismantle that mechanism; it harmonises the training baseline that determines who qualifies for it.

Competent authorities in each host country retain responsibility for decisions on access to regulated professions and recognition of qualifications. The CTF creates a shared reference point, but recognition decisions remain national.

What Training Schools Should Do Now

The objection period closes on 15 November 2026. Schools offering programmes in rehabilitation exercise, clinical fitness or health-oriented wellness should use that window to review the Commission's listed competence requirements and identify any overlap with their existing curricula or graduate employment profiles.

• Audit programme scope: Determine whether any current courses position graduates for roles that national law in target employment markets defines as physiotherapy practice.

• Review accreditation framing: Accreditation materials that describe courses in clinical or rehabilitation terms should be cross-checked against the CTF competence list to avoid misrepresentation of scope.

• Monitor transposition timelines: Once the objection period closes and the directive proceeds, Member States will have a defined transposition window. Schools operating across multiple EU countries need country-by-country monitoring of how each jurisdiction implements the framework.

What Employers and Hiring Managers Should Note

Fitness facilities and wellness operators hiring staff for rehabilitation or clinical roles should not treat the CTF proposal as immediately changing who can legally perform those roles. The proposal is not yet operative law. However, it signals the direction of EU policy: harmonised minimum standards for physiotherapy training, applied consistently across participating Member States.

Employers who currently hire fitness professionals for roles that involve elements of rehabilitation or corrective exercise should clarify with legal counsel in each relevant jurisdiction whether those roles fall within the regulated scope of physiotherapy under national law. The CTF, once transposed, will make that boundary harder to argue around.

The Broader Regulatory Signal

The Commission's move reflects a consistent EU-level trend: using the professional-qualifications directive to build shared training benchmarks for health-adjacent professions, facilitating labour mobility while maintaining standards. For the fitness sector, the message is structural. As healthcare and wellness services converge, the regulatory perimeter around clinical exercise will continue to tighten through frameworks like this one, even when personal training and gym instruction remain unregulated at EU level.