Important European ruling for students studying elsewhere in Europe

facingthefuture

Hello,
my son started his degree in Middlesex, met a dutch girl and applied to finish degree in dutch uni. Problem was he applied straight not exchange (erasmus).
Dutch wouldn't give him a grant, our local LEA said outside uk and ireland so no help there. We are on a low income and have got into debt to support him.(I know don't lecture!) He does any jobs he can but the thought of going through his final year is terrifying.

I trawled through the internet and found this ruling - can anyone tell me if it will force out local LEA to pay up?

http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=
EN&Submit=rechercher&numaff=C-11/06


Considering the taxes we have paid for years (when things were better) and that they won't now even give us a tax allowance for him its so unfair.I want him to be able to get a student loan so he can pay back all this himself but he can't without the lea agreement.


PS he is not a medical student

Does anyone know what this ruling means? Have you heard about it - why does no one seem to know about it?

atypical

What is your interpretation of the ruling? It doesn't say that a Member State must provide a grant to a national who leaves to study elsewhere in the EU. It says that for the particular case that was referred to them (so it can't be broadly applied anyway) for a grant to be obtained "studies must be a continuation of education or training pursued for at least one year in the Member State of origin of those students."

Note that "to be obtained" isn't the same as "must be given". If you read the opinion of the Advocate General he concludes "that Germany, like any other Member State, is not required under Community law to award grants for education or training abroad, since it has a wide discretion to award them and, if it does so, to lay down the relevant conditions. However, if it awards grants, it must do so in accordance with Union law."

dmg24

I have scanned the above pr, and whilst I would agree that the principles regarding freedom of movement may be relevant, trying to argue such a point is likely to take another court case, and it would be by no means guaranteed that you would win. If you could afford to challenge the current law then paying the course fees would not be an issue for you, so I would say it is not a realistic option.

dmg24

atypical wrote: »

What is your interpretation of the ruling? It doesn't say that a Member State must provide a grant to a national who leaves to study elsewhere in the EU. It says that for the particular case that was referred to them (so it can't be broadly applied anyway) for a grant to be obtained "studies must be a continuation of education or training pursued for at least one year in the Member State of origin of those students."

A pr can be applied if the question to be referred is materially identical. I can see an argument that this would be the case, however that is not to say that a court would agree with this argument.

facingthefuture

Thanks so much for your opinions, I sadly wouldn't have a spare £100 to even put towards a court case. I guess that means we are done for then.:(