German workers including tilers, organ builders and makers of wooden toys now need to attain the rank of “master craftsperson” before they can start their own business, as the country rolls back some of the deregulatory labour market changes of the past decade.

Germany’s parliament voted on Thursday to reintroduce rules requiring those founding businesses in 12 trade sectors to have gained the qualification of “Meister”.

Other trades affected include coopers, signmakers, parquet flooring installers, interior designers and glass refiners.

Traditionally strict rules around craft-based trades were watered down after the chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s labour market overhaul in 2004, when politicians argued that deregulating sectors of industry would create more lively competition.

The so-called Meisterpflicht, or master craftsperson certificate, has also been long a thorn in the eye of the European commission, which argues that it can act as a barrier against the free movement of labour.

Craft lobby organisations, however, argue the deregulatory steps led to the creation of more short-lived businesses that did not train enough apprentices and offered lower standards of service for their customers.

In recent years a return to the old rules has found supporters among both Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the centre-left SPD, who said this week the reintroduced Meister system would help to guarantee a higher quality of work and protect endangered trades.

The issue was included in the 2018 coalition agreement between the parties.

Workers from the European Union as well as Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are exempt from the new and old master craftsperson requirements and can start a business in Germany as long as they can prove they have at least five years’ experience in the field of work.

The German Monopolies Commission, an independent body advising the government on competition law, therefore warns the new rules will put German workers at a disadvantage over EU workers exercising their freedom of movement, as they are burdened by regulation that does not affect Polish, Hungarian or Romanian labourers.