On Tuesday 29 November, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar, explained in his conclusions presented to the Court of Justice of the European Union that there could possibly be legitimate grounds to refuse a visa to a foreign student pursuing research in the EU if the knowledge that could potentially be acquired posed a risk to “public security”.
This case (C-544/15) involves a student from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. The German authorities refused the student’s request for a visa in 2012 to pursue postdoctoral studies because they were concerned that the knowledge sought in Germany could be used for military purposes or domestic acts of repression in Iran.
The question the Court must answer is therefore one of what room of manoeuvre do the national authorities have when assessing a threat to “public security” in this kind of situation. Under the terms of a European directive (2004/114/EC) they can, in effect, refuse a visa for this reason to nationals from non-EU countries requesting entry into the EU for study purposes for periods of more than three months.
According to the Advocate General, the consent of the German authorities in this case appeared justified because the considerations of the security of international and external relations of a member state can be included in the scope of “public security”. The Advocate General then outlined the general criteria on which the national authorities should base their decisions and which require, above all, the need to provide concrete and convincing elements in support of their decision, which consistently ensure a balance between the need to attract foreign students and the necessity of ensuring that questions of security are taken into account.
Although sanctions against Iran are now gradually being lifted, this question is still no less pertinent for students from other countries. It is even more appropriate given that on the same day that the Advocate General submitted these conclusions, the Council of the EU was examining the question of international cooperation in the field of research and innovation and the role of scientific diplomacy (see other article). (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)