Belgian ‘anti-French’ student law faces Commission probe

Date: 16/02/06

Belgium is under investigation from the European Commission as it attempts to limit the number of French students studying at the country's francophone universities.

The government of the French-speaking community in Belgium is poised to introduce a quota on the number of foreign students, keeping them to a maximum of 30% in 2006-2007.

The case could see Belgium being taken to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for breaking EU non-discrimination rules.

"We will have to study this very carefully, the Commission expects to receive a copy of the law," said Fr�ric Vincent, spokesman for J�Figel', the European Commissioner for education, culture and multilingualism.

The Belgian francophone community argues that Belgians are losing out on university places.

The problem is particularly acute in medicine and veterinary sciences where restrictions are planned, as well as in dentistry, physiotherapy, chiropody, speech and occupational therapy.

Entrance examinations for students to study at French universities are reputed to be more demanding than in Belgium.

"We have not seen the law yet. I have seen press reports and there is a big debate in Belgium but it is too early to say," said Vincent.

The Commission has previously taken Belgium to the ECJ for discrimination on grounds of nationality, when Belgium tried to introduce entry examinations for French students. Following the court's ruling in 2003 examinations were introduced for all. It appears that French students continue to outstrip their Belgian counterparts.

"Those measures did not work and it appears they are now introducing more," Vincent said.

Marie-Dominique Simonet, a spokesperson for the French community's minister for education, said she hoped the new rules would be in line with EU law.

"We have taken into account the comments of the ECJ. It is not aimed at nationality. It is aimed at foreign students. We don't want to be against mobility."

"The European average for foreign students is around 2%," he said. That is why we have set the quota at 30% and restricted it only to certain subjects and to the first year of studies. It will not affect exchange programmes such as Erasmus or those who want to learn French."

The Commission has had to confront the Belgian authorities before on education issues. In 1985 the so-called Gravier judgment held that a French student could study in Belgium and would not have to pay a higher fee than local students.

The Belgian authorities say that courses are dominated by foreign students, who make up around 80% on veterinary and physiotherapy courses.

Similar measures have been threatened in Austria which has sought to halt the influx of German students on medicine courses.

On Monday (13 February), the Austrian government announced that it intended to reserve 75% of places on medical courses for Austrians, with the remaining quota assigned to EU citizens (20%) and non-EU citizens (5%).

The move follows a ECJ ruling of 7 July 2005 - which stated that the Austrian university system had been discriminating against non-Austrians by admitting them only if they could prove they had also qualified for a study place in their home country. Some Austrian political parties have made their backing for the plan conditional on it receiving approval from the Commission.

"Commissioner Figel' said during a recent visit to Austria that he is not a friend of quotas," said Vincent.

European governments have made an inter-governmental agreement to create a common area for higher education by 2010.

* The European Voice EU Studies Fair takes place on Saturday 18 February in Brussels (see page 29). The EU Studies Guide 2006 is included with copies of this week's newspaper distributed in Belgium. Readers wanting further copies of the guide should contact EV's office or send their postal address to eustudies fair@economist.com.

Article reports on a dispute between the European Commission and Belgium after the Government of the French-speaking community announced that it was planning to introduce a quota on the number of foreign students, keeping them to a maximum of 30% in 2006-2007. The European Commission intended to examine whether this attempt to limit the number of French students studying at Belgium's francophone universities was a case of discrimination on grounds of nationality and therefore illegal.

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