The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that granting maintenance assistance on condition that students are settled in the country is incompatible with the Community Law, because it implies discrimination on grounds of nationality.
The ECJ judgement addressed the situation of Dany Bidar, a French national resident in the United Kingdom (UK), who enrolled at University College London and applied for financial assistance and was refused a maintenance loan on the basis that he was not settled in the UK.
Dany Bidar moved to the UK in 1998, completed his last three years of secondary education, enrolled at the the University College of London in 2001 and applied for maintenance loan. While he was granted assistance with tuition fees, the London Borough of Ealing refused financial assistance.
He challenged this decision, claiming that it constituted discrimination on the grounds of nationality, which is prohibited by the EC Treaty. The High Court asked the ECJ wether assistance (including maintenance costs for students) still remains outside the scope of the EC Treaty.
The English legislation prevents any national of another Member State from obtaining the settled status as a student.
The ECJ recalled on the 15 March 2005 that such legislation is incompatible with the principle of citizenship of the Union that states that the same conditions should be applied for EU citizens, lawfully residents in another Member State.
On the other hand, a national of a Member State who lives in another Member State must receive such assitance as long as he/she has demonstrated a certain degree of integration into the society. The court acknowledged that maintenance costs of students should not become an unreasonable burden for the host state. Thus, the requirement of previous residence for a certain number of years can be a criteria to establish this degree of integration.
This ruling, as many others in the past few months indicates clear examples of the way the European citizenship can work.
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Related EPHA articles on ECJ jurisprudence about treatment outside the EU and about rights to treatment
