“competent authority” means any authority or body of a relevant European State designated by that State for the purposes of the Directive as competent to—

1. a

   receive or issue evidence of qualifications or other information or documents, or

2. b

   receive applications and take the decisions referred to in the Directive,

in connection with the practice of dentistry or a profession complementary to dentistry;;

“the Directive” means Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7th September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications (OJ No. L255, 30.09.2005, p.22) M2, and references in this Act to the Directive or to any provision of the Directive are references to the Directive, or to that provision of the Directive, as amended from time to time;

• “exempt person”, in relation to the profession of dentistry or in relation to a profession complementary to dentistry, means—

  1. a

     a national of a relevant European State other than the United Kingdom;

  2. b

     a national of the United Kingdom who is seeking access to, or is pursuing, the profession by virtue of an enforceable Community right; or

  3. c

     a person who is not a national of a relevant European State but who is, by virtue of an enforceable Community right, entitled to be treated, for the purposes of access to and pursuit of the profession, no less favourably than a national of a relevant European State;

• “the General Systems Regulations” means the European Communities (Recognition of Professional Qualifications) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/2781);

“national”, in relation to a relevant European State, means the same as in the Community Treaties, but does not include a person who by virtue of Article 2 of Protocol No. 3 (Channel Islands and Isle of Man) to the Treaty of Accession is not to benefit from Community provisions relating to the free movement of persons and services;

“relevant European State” means an EEA State or Switzerland.