The signing of the first European Directives on professional standards of training for nurses responsible for General Care, nos. 452 and 453 on 27 June 1977, was intended to allow for free movement of qualified professionals throughout member states of the European Economic Community (now the European Union) after due process of harmonising such standards.

Dame Sheila Quinn, DBE, BSc., FRCN, FHA, SRN, SCM, STD, was President of the Royal College of Nursing 1982-86 and Regional Nursing Officer, Wessex Regional Health Authority 1978-83, and served as UK Member of the Permanent Committee of Nurses in Liaison with the EEC (PCN) formed in 1971, subsequently referred to as the Standing Committee (SCN), of which she also served as President 1983-91. The Committee consisted of one nursing representative from each member country, and its formal link to the European Commission gave it the right to approach the Commission for information, offer advice to it and be consulted by the Commission. Formal negotiations on nursing directives had begun between government delegations in 1975, with the directives finally being signed in June 1977 and with compliance being required in a further two years´ time. In May 1979 Dame Sheila was elected the first President of the EEC Advisory Committee on Training in Nursing (ACTN), a post rotated between three serving presidents on an annual basis, each serving for one year at a time.

Thomas Keighley, BA, SRN, RMN, Dip. Nursing, was Director of the Institute of Nursing, University of Leeds, 1993-96 and Director of International Development, School of Healthcare Studies, University of Leeds, 1997-2001. From 1990 he was a member of the Advisory Council on Training in Nursing (ACTN), the body for which Dame Sheila Quinn served as one of the Presidents.

ACTN was established under the Council of the European Communities Directives legislation relating to professional standards in nursing of 27 June 1977, and was intended to consider and make recommendations on the training of nurses responsible for General Care. The ACTN was appointed in January 1978 by the Council of Ministers, its remit being to consider basic (pre-registration) General Nurse training across the European Union. It consisted of three members for each EU country, serving for three years, with observers from the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland), which with the exception of Switzerland agreed to the implementation of all EU directives including those affecting nursing. The Committee therefore consisted initially of 54 representatives plus officers from the Commission, with the national representatives covering the areas of Nursing Practice, the Education Bodies and the Competent Authority of each. The Committee met in Plenary session initially once and later twice a year in Brussels, and had the power to propose directives, make recommendations and give opinions. It also had usually two working parties consisting of one representative from each country meeting on occasions additional to the Plenary sessions. Subsequently issues involving Specialist Care were also addressed: paediatric and psychiatric nursing, the care of patients with cancer, and of the elderly. From 1994 the working parties considered two major issues, the reform of the Annex to the General Nursing Directive, which identified the content of General Nurse training, and the development of Specialist Nurse training. Impetus was added to the first piece of work by two separate initiatives, the report of the Council of Europe on the education of nurses, and the Commission's own interest in the Simplified Legislation in the Internal Market (SLIM), intended to facilitate free movement of professionals between member countries on the basis of educational qualifications.