Commission v Austria
Commission v Austria C-147/03 is a decision of the European Court of Justice, concerning the prohibition of discrimination on the ground of nationality, to protect European Union citizens. In particular, the case concerned the failure of Austria to avoid the discrimination of holders of secondary education diplomas, awarded in other Member States, when trying to gain access to higher and university education in Austria.
Facts
Austria gave access to higher education for holders of Austrian school certificates, but had higher requirements for non-Austrians. Austria said it sought to preserve the ‘homogeneity of the Austrian higher or university education system.’ It could otherwise expect many German or Italian students to attempt to enter Austria, causing ‘structural, staffing and financial problems’.EU law at the time provided for a general prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality. In addition to this prohibition, EU law also imposed certain obligations on the member states concerning education and training.
On 9 November 1999, the Commission decided to sent a letter of formal notice to Austria, claiming that it had infringed the three provisions. Since it was not satisfied by the replies, the Commission sent Austria a reasoned opinion asking to take measures. Eventually, on 31 March 2003, the Commission brought the action under Article 226 EC for failure to fulfil obligations, as it was not satisfied by the Austrian Government's reply.
Judgment
The Court of Justice held that there was little evidence of an actual problem, and a justification based on preserving Austrian homogeneity was not valid. If there was excessive demand for courses, non-discriminatory measures such as an entry exam or minimum grade would suffice. According to the Court, the problems ‘have been and are suffered by other Member States’.This reasoning of the Court followed that of the Opinion of the Advocate General, Francis Jacobs.