Austria is entitled to refuse a public subsidy to the ‘Free Church of the Seventh-day Adventists’ for one of its private schools based in Austria, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday 2 February (Case C-372/21). The reason for the refusal is that the religious denomination in question is not a recognised religion in Austria.
The ‘Free Church of the Seventh-day Adventists’ is recognised in Germany, but not in Austria. It went to court in Austria after the Austrian authorities refused it a public grant to pay staff at one of its private schools in Austria. The Supreme Administrative Court in Vienna asked the Court of Justice to confirm its decision.
The latter considers that this is a restriction on the freedom of establishment, but that it can nevertheless be justified, “provided that it pursues a legitimate objective and that the principle of proportionality is respected”.
It considers that the Austrian regulation is not inappropriate in this case. The reservation of subsidies to schools of recognised denominations in Austria “is intended to ensure that the subsidised schools serve a significant part of the population”, according to the Court.
See the judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/56o (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)