The expansion of the European Union during the last 2 yr has resulted in the need for a revision of existing guidelines to further harmonize education and training in the specialty of anaesthesiology throughout the European Union. Although each individual country is responsible for its own training and certification, these guidelines are intended to reflect minimum criteria for specialist training. It is the opinion of the Section and Board of Anaesthesia that specialist training will need to be for a minimum of 5 yr.