ECJ rules against Greece

DAMIAN MAC CON ULADH

Greek students protest in Athens against the legalisation of private liberal arts institutions earlier this month

THE EUROPEAN Commission expects Greece to bow to a European Court ruling and recognise diplomas issued by the country's private liberal arts institutions (KES) that are affiliated with universities and colleges in EU member states.

In an October 23 ruling, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said Greece has failed to comply with a 1989 EU directive (89/48/EEC) concerning the recognition of higher education diplomas of at least three years' duration. The purpose of this directive is to make it easier for professionals in one EU member state to practise their profession in another.

The European Commission initiated the case against Greece for non-compliance with the directive in July 2005 after it received complaints from 37 individuals in 2001. These individuals claimed that, even though Greece had transposed the 1989 directive into Greek law in 2000, a Greek presidential decree continued to impede the recognition of their educational and professional qualifications.

In its application to the court, the commission highlighted six areas in which it argued Greece was contravening community law and directives. The court upheld five of the six complaints.

The commission's first complaint argued that Greece systematically refused to recognise diplomas obtained from private liberal arts institutions in Greece.

At present, more than a dozen European universities, mainly British, provide their programmes through KES institutions in Greece based on franchising agreements. About half a dozen other schools are affiliated with American universities. More than 25,000 Greeks have earned a degree from one of these institutions.

In its ruling, the ECJ said that the general framework for the recognition of higher education qualifications is clear: It rests on the mutual trust that European Union member states have in the diplomas they award. As such, the system neither requires nor permits one member state to validate the qualifications issued by a competent authority of another member state.

Each state must presume that the qualifications awarded to a person in one state to pursue a particular profession are sufficient to carry out the same profession in other member states.

Europe's highest court also ruled that the authorities in a country hosting franchise colleges, in this case Greece, may not examine the basis on which the diplomas have been awarded. This right and responsibility rests with the competent authorities in the member country where the institution awarding the diplomas is based.

As regards the first complaint, the court found that Greece has infringed EU rules on the recognition of diplomas by failing to recognise the diplomas awarded by the competent authorities of another member state.

The court also ruled on the issue of "compensatory measures", whereby host member states (meaning states in which franchise educational establishments are located) may require graduates to undergo an adaptation period or aptitude test before they can fully engage in their profession. While the directive allows for exceptions to that principle, the court found that the Greek approach involved a far greater "suppression of choice" permitted by the directive.

In its third ruling, the ECJ found that the operation of a Greek official body set up to verify professional qualifications (the Council Responsible for Recognising Professional Equivalence of Higher Education Qualifications, or SAEITTE) is contrary to the 1989 directive on the grounds that all diplomas issued by recognised third-level institutions in other EU countries are automatically valid. Furthermore, it also ruled that Greece may no longer discriminate against degrees awarded after three years of course work (Most university courses in Greece are of a four-year duration.)

In a further ruling, which will affect liberal arts college employees in Greece's massive public sector, the Luxembourg court declared that Greece must not prevent anyone whose qualifications were not recognised when they were recruited into the civil service from seeking the promotion or salary increases to which they would otherwise be entitled.

Ball back in Greece's court

The ruling now puts the ball back in Greece's court as regards the implantation of additional directives affecting third-level education.

Greece failed to meet an October 2007 deadline for the implementation of the European Union directive (2005/36/EC) that also requires the state to recognise the professional qualifications of graduates who earned their degree at a European university or one of Greece's dozens of KES institutes.

In December 2007, Education Minister Evrypidis Stylianidis informed parliament's standing education committee that Greece would not enforce the 2005 EU directive until the ECJ ruling on the 1989 directive had come through.

Now that it has finally been delivered, the ECJ ruling may also make the new law on regulating private liberal arts colleges redundant. The law, passed by parliament during the summer, created a strict licensing system for the KES sector.

The law also explicitly states that it is illegal for these colleges to refer to themselves as universities. They are also prohibited from granting diplomas to their students, who must make do with a certificate of study instead.

"The ECJ ruling seems to completely undermine the provisions of this law," said a spokesman of a major Athens educational institution, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The ruling may also have constitutional ramifications. The current wording of the constitution explicitly states that university education may only be "provided exclusively by institutions which are fully self-governed public law legal entities... under the supervision of the state".

Minister not surprised

Speaking to a reporter, Stylianidis said that he was "not surprised by the result as it was something that we had expected". His ministry will study the ruling, consult with interested parties and then proceed to enact a presidential decree, in the new year at the earliest, which would "harmonise the Greek system with the European one, while ensuring the quality of education".

He did maintain, however, that the court decision and harmonisation is a different issue from that of licensing KES institutions, which he said was based on a "law already passed, for which the relevant decrees have been issued and which is proceeding to schedule".

Talking to this newspaper, an ECJ spokesman said the commission will now monitor whether Greece makes the necessary changes to its national law.

"If the commission feels that Greece hasn't complied, then it can start a second infringement procedure, ultimately resulting in requesting the ECJ to impose fines on Greece for having not complied with today's court judgement, " the spokesman said.

"However," as the spokesman said, "this happens very, very rarely. We have over 100 such infringements cases every year and only one or two judgements end in a fine."