Student Mobility in the EU – Recent Case Law, Reflections and Recommendations
Now more than ever, it appears that both societal and political factors are supporting and stimulating student mobility in all its shapes and forms, most notably through various initiatives on the European level. The Bologna Process, the European Qualifications Framework and the Lisbon Recognition Convention are all examples of this commitment undertaken by the Member States of the EU as well as other European nations. However, upon taking a closer look at the practical reality, we see that many obstacles remain to exist. As EU law currently stands after the Forster and Morgan and Bucher judgments, mobile students do not have a right to maintenance grants, neither from their host state or their home state. Furthermore, the European Court of Justice has – albeit reluctantly – allowed an exception to the principle of equal treatment on grounds of nationality with regards to access to higher education in the Bressol case. Although the recent, somewhat more restrictive attitude of the European Court can be defended and perhaps even welcomed, it does illustrate the need for a discussion and potential action on the European level by the political institutions. This contribution includes a discussion of the recent ECJ case law on student mobility and some reflections on the desirability, feasibility and potential form and content of such future action.
Equality and Diversity: Challenges for EU Anti-Discrimination Law
A turning point in the development of EU anti-discrimination law occurred with the insertion of Article 13 into the EC Treaty in 1999. Th is opened the door to the adoption in 2000 of the ‘Race Directive’1, prohibiting discrimination on grounds of racial or ethnic origin in employment and also other fi elds, such as education, social protection and access to goods and services. Th e Race Directive was accompanied in the same year by the ‘Employment Equality’ Directive2, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation in the fi elds of employment and vocational training. Whilst the Directives clearly have had an impact in states where such provisions were not previously a feature of domestic legislation, they have also required revisions to national law in those states where anti-discrimination law was already well-established. Th is special issue focuses on the impact of the Directives on two states with mature systems of anti-discrimination law: the UK and the Netherlands. Both already possessed prior to 2000 a rather elaborate legislative framework and had an active body of case-law interpreting these statutes. In addition, both states possessed specialised equality bodies. In furthering this research, fi nancial support was provided under the British Council– NWO Partnership Programme in Science for the organisation of a conference bringing together academics from both countries. Th is was held in May 2005 and facilitated by the Centre for European Law and Integration of the University of Leicester, in cooperation with the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University. Th e articles in this issue arise out of that conference and we are grateful to the participants for their contributions to the debate. Th e articles by Lucy Vickers and Janneke Gerards consider the impact of the Directives on the legislative frameworks within the UK and the Netherlands respectively. In both cases, the Directives required the extension of anti-discrimination law to new grounds: religion or belief (UK), disability (the Netherlands), sexual orientation (UK), age (UK and the Netherlands). In addition, existing laws on race discrimination had to be revised
Free Movement of Persons Within the European Community
The European Community's successes and failures in guaranteeing the fundamental right to free movement of persons continue to develop against the backgrounds of domestic civil rights and international human rights obligations. Although often justified merely in terms of economic efficiency, non-discriminatory rights and freedoms of movement can be seen as constituting an essential component of the legal foundation of all European projects, and as a powerful force in the forging of a new European identity beyond the traditional nation-state.The present volume - a revised and updated edition of the important work first published in 2001 - provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of European law on the movement of persons. Its scope encompasses doctrinal basis, institutional framework, legal compliance, judicial development, and derogation on such grounds as security and health. The authors, both well-known experts in the field, comment extensively on matters including visas, free movement of workers, freedom of establishment for companies in the context of taxation, posted workers, harmonisation of professional qualifications, European citizenship, freedom to provide and receive services, agreements between the European Community and other states concerning free movement, and the rights of families and individuals to housing and education, as well as the increasingly important topic of the rights of third country nationals.In addition to providing analysis of the relevant provisions of the European Community Treaty as amended by subsequent treaties including the Treaties of Amsterdam and Nice, the book takes considerable account of all relevant secondary legislation and sometimes soft law, for example draft treaties, resolutions, and draft legislation. All of these perspectives - legislative and judicial, at domestic, EC and international levels - are here fully updated, with special attention to the far-reaching implications of the recent Residence Directive.In this new edition the authors clearly articulate what has been gained in recent years, and also consider what obstacles remain and what future developments might take place in this area of Community law. For these reasons and others, "Free Movement of Persons Within the European Community, Second Edition", will continue to be of great value to legal practitioners, officials of the EC and other economic unions, academics, and students as well as to the wider public interested in the process of European integration.