Luxembourg, 24/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - In its ruling on Tuesday 23 October on joint cases C-11/06 and C-12/06, the Court of Justice has ruled against the German system of student grants, which makes grants awarded for a course studied in another member state conditional on this course being the continuation of studies pursued for at least one year in Germany.
German nationals Rhiannon Morgan and Iris Bucher each applied for a grant from the German state to continue their studies abroad, one in the United Kingdom, the other in the Netherlands. They challenged the refusal of these grants in the administrative court in Aachen, which referred the matter to the Court of Justice. In its ruling, the Court agreed with the conclusions of the advocate general (see EUROPE 9391) in finding against Germany. The measures imposed constitute a restriction on free movement. The German authorities had never denied this, but tried to justify the restriction. The Court, however, did not accept the validity of its arguments: Germany has the right to reserve grants to students who have demonstrated a certain level of integration into society, but the requirement that there be a first phase of study is excessive and does not necessarily correspond to the level of integration. This could have implications for several other member states, where the award of grants is subject to similar conditions. In the United Kingdom, the Department for Education and Training was already studying this case when the advocate general announced his conclusions. (C.D.)