PROFESSIONALISM BEYOND THE NATION-STATE: INTERNATIONAL SYSTEMS OF PROFESSIONAL REGULATION IN EUROPE.

In the newly enlarged European Union, the issue of internationalisation of systems of professional regulation is becoming significant. This article considers what these processes mean for nation-state models of professional self-regulation and governance. It is suggested that the professions are becoming very active in these processes: that the professions are internationalising. The first sections consider the differences between Anglo-American and European modes of production of professionalism and the historical role of professions in the development of social cohesion, integration and legitimacy in both federal and European nation-states. The article continues with a preliminary examination of some of the mechanisms and processes that promote professional integration at the international level. The article concludes by raising some critical questions about how internationalisation is re-working and re-defining that category of occupations called professions. It is argued that the models of state-professions relations, which are dominant in sociological theory, are in need of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]