The Independent Professions : Germany

The independent professions form an important part of the German small and medium-sized business sector. They generate roughly six percent of the gross domestic product. At the beginning of 1997 there were about 591,000 self-employed persons in the independent professions in Germany with roughly 2.2 million employees and 170,000 trainees (more than ten percent of all trainees); together they represented approximately seven percent of the work force. A distinctive feature of the independent professions is the wide variety of professions and job descriptions they encompass. These are concentrated in the following areas: £>independent medical professions (e.g. doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other medical professionals); 5>independent legal and business consultants (e.g. attorneys, tax accountants and notaries); ;>>independent technical and scientific professions (e.g.

architects, engineers, experts and specialists); and ^independent professions in the cultural sphere (e.g.
artists, journalists, academics and translators). Common to all independent professions is the fact that they provide the population and the business community with important services involving advice, assistance, care and representation - properly, on their own responsibility and not under instructions from third parties. Over and above working for their own personal gain, the members of the independent professions are under a special obligation to serve the interests and welfare of society as a whole. A large proportion of independent professionals are compulsory members of a professional association. The professional associations are self-administered organizations responsible, among other things, for defending the rights of their given profession. Since 1 July 1995 there has been a separate legal form - the limited partnership - within which members of the independent professions (and only these) may join
forces.

The independent professions occupy a position in between the state and its administration on the one hand and industry and trade on the other. Bordering the former are professionals such as notaries, publicly appointed land surveyors, and publicly appointed and sworn experts, whose work is either of an official nature or connected with state administrative activities. Bordering the latter, for instance, are pharmacists: Operation of a pharmacy is subject to trade tax, but the pharmacists themselves are independent professionals working within the health care system. Many new professions and fields of activity involving free-lance services have developed in recent years. The national professional associations such as the Federal Association of Panel Doctors, the Federal Dental Society, the Federal Chamber of Notaries and the German Tax Accountants Association represent inter alia regional associations or their members as a whole vis-a-vis parliament, authorities and organizations and prepare general guidelines for the exercise of the professions, for further training and continuing education, and for initial training of young professionals. They keep their members informed of topics which are of relevance to the professions through periodicals and series of books as well as at seminars and conferences.