The Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979 (Amendment) Regulations 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend sections 11 and 22B of the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979 (“the Act”) so as to ensure that a nurse responsible for general care or a midwife who is not an EEA national but who holds a qualification which the United Kingdom is required by Directive 77/452/EEC or 80/154/EEC to recognise where it is held by an EEA national, is treated, for the purposes of section 11 (registration) or section 22B(1) (visiting EEA nurses and midwives), as if he were an EEA national (articles 48 and 52 of the Treaty of Rome and article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1612/68 (O.J. No. L257, 19.10.68, p. 1)).

In order to avoid apparent inconsistencies with new provisions, it also changes existing references in the Act to member States of the European Communities to references to EEA States (i.e. those who are Contracting Parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area). Related expressions are also amended accordingly. The Agreement on the European Economic Area came into force on the 1st January 1994 (1st May 1995 for Liechtenstein) the Contracting Parties to which are the EU member States and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. (Austria, Sweden and Finland are Contracting Parties having signed before acceding to the European Union of which they have been member States since the 1st January 1995). In accordance with the European Economic Area Act 1993 (c. 51) provisions in the 1979 Act relating to the European Communities have, where appropriate, had effect in relation to the European Economic Area since the date the Agreement came into force.