In 1967, the general practice associations of the then six Member States of the European Economic Community assembled in Paris to establish the European Union of General Practitioners ( UEMO ). With this, general practice achieved a voice throughout the Community and, in time, this would prove the political voice of general practice, both of the European Union and of Europe as a whole. At that tim
e, general medical practice had only begun to emerge as a new central discipline of the profession, and was far from recognised in Europe. The problems of general practice had only begun to be taken up for serious discussion. Years would pass before a sub-committee on general practice was established in the Standing Committee of European Doctors (C ), and when the first directives for mutual recognition of medical credentials were adopted in 1975, no real account was taken of general practice. It would take another decade before the UEMO struggle to fill the gap would achieve its first major success - in 1986 - with the adoption of the European Directive, guaranteeing a minimum standard of training for general practitioners in Europe. On the 21st January 2009, UEMO acquired legal personality. The organisation's Deed of Incorporation as a non-profit under the Belgian Law was signed in Brussels by President Dr. Isabel Caixeiro and UEMO became officially known as L'Union Européenne des Médecins Omnipraticiens / Médecins de Famille, AISBL.
