End of the controversial battle of ski instructors in France
The European Union establishes a common test of training for ski instructors necessary to work in the different Member States. This rule affects ski instructors who wish to practice the profession in a State other than the one in which they obtained their qualification.
The issue of foreign ski instructors in France has always been very controversial. The approved measure has been promoted by the National Union of French Ski Instructors (SNMSF), which had been trying for many years to increase the requirements for foreigners wishing to practice in France.
The president of the SNMSF, Eric Brèche, expressed satisfied that this European official card is a compulsory teaching permit for any instructor who wants to work in France and in the countries of the Alpine Arc with the obligation of having approved and obtained the Eurotest and the Eurosecurity’.
After weeks of scrutiny, the regulation was approved and published on June 4 in the Official Journal of the European Union. According to the statement, said test ‘will be a way to facilitate the mobility of ski instructors in the Union’.
A protocol signed in 2012 already established that completing the Eurotest and Eurosecurity tests was a prerequisite for the automatic recognition of ski instructor qualifications among the Member States. That is why these two tests have been taken as a basis for the content of the common test of training for ski instructors.
The common training test will include a technical aptitude test, which will consist of a giant alpine ski slalom according to the rules of the International Ski Federation, and a test of safety-related competences, with a theoretical examination and a practical off-piste exam.
