Students studying in other EU states will be able to claim a minimum subsistence allowance on the same basis as nationals of those states, according to the European Court of Justice.
The judgment was released yesterday in a case in which a French national, Mr Rudy Grzelczyk, who was studying in Belgium, had been first granted, and then denied, the minimum subsistence allowance, or "minimex". The "minimex" is a non-contributory allowance paid to those lacking adequate resources.
The minister responsible based his decision on the fact that Mr Grzelczyk was a student. In 1987, payment of the "minimex" had been extended to those who benefited from the free movement of labour within the EU and came to Belgium as workers. However, Belgian students are eligible to claim the benefit.
Mr Grzelczyk challenged the decision in the Belgian courts, which referred the question to the EU's Court of Justice.
The court held the "minimex" is a social benefit and that a Belgian student in the same position as Mr Grzelczyk would have satisfied the conditions for obtaining it. It found, therefore, he had suffered discrimination solely on the ground of his nationality. However, the court also pointed out that member-states might require students wishing to benefit from the right of residence in another member-state to declare that they have sufficient resources to avoid becoming a burden on their social welfare systems.
But it pointed out that a student's finances might change for reasons beyond his/her control, and it stressed that no conditions could be imposed on applicants that were not also applicable to nationals.