EU court criticizes limits on foreign students in universities

Tue, 13 Apr 2010

Brussels - Preventing a European Union student from enrolling in a university in another EU state is illegal unless serious public interest risks can be demonstrated, the bloc's top court said on Tuesday.

The European Court of Justice was asked for its opinion on the decision by Belgian authorities to limit to 30 per cent the number of non-Belgian residents allowed in nine medical or paramedical courses at its Francophone universities.

The move was a reaction to the increasing popularity of Belgian universities among French students, who find them a much cheaper alternative to getting a degree in their home country.

Belgian authorities justified the restrictions by arguing that a growing number of foreign medicine students would eventually reduce the number of trained doctors in Belgium, posing a long-term risk to healthcare provision.

However, the EU court said that "such a difference in treatment constitutes indirect discrimination on the grounds of nationality which is prohibited, unless it is objectively justified."

Therefore, the risks to public health cited by Belgian authorities must be demonstrated by "an objective, detailed analysis, supported by figures ... with solid and consistent data."

The EU court left it to the Belgian constitutional court, which had asked for the opinion of the Luxembourg-based institution, to rule whether the public health interests being invoked are justifiable in this specific case.

However, the bloc's judges urged their Belgian counterparts to examine whether the stated objective could be attained "by less restrictive measures," such as incentives for foreign medical students to stay in Belgium once they graduate.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/318429,eucourt-criticizes-limits-on-foreign-students-in-universities.html.