(2004/C 70 E/279)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3344/03

by Christos Folias (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 November 2003)

Subject:   Recognition of Greek citizens' university degrees

Dikatsa is the organisation in Greece responsible for the recognition of university degrees such as Bachelor, Masters, PhD, or the equivalent, awarded to Greek citizens by universities both in countries outside the EU and in some Member States.

As a result of delays, red tape, controversial decisions and subsequent complaints to the organisation, many young graduates in Greece have problems with their career development.

Will the Commission, therefore, say:

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(11 December 2003)

The Commission is aware of the problem of the long delays and other malfunctions in the academic recognition procedure in Greece.

At the present stage of Community law, the recognition of diplomas for academic purposes falls within the competence of Member States. There are no Community rules regulating mutual recognition of diplomas. Each Member State is responsible for the content and organisation of its own educational system. There are currently no diplomas that are recognised at European level. Universities, which are autonomous institutions, are entirely responsible for the content of their curricula and for awarding diplomas and certificates to students. The authorities of the Member States have the right to require the academic recognition of qualifications before allowing access to education and they may evaluate whether the content of the education received by the holder of a diploma corresponds to the level that is required by the national legislation. They are equally free to fix the rules governing this type of procedure.

They may not, however, apply any direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of nationality, in accordance with Article 12 of the EC Treaty.

In Greece, many of the holders of diplomas that are issued by other Member States are Greek nationals who have followed studies in another Member State and wish to pursue their studies in Greece.

Although, as stated above, the academic recognition of diplomas falls within the competence of the Member States, the Commission is of the opinion that excessive delays caused by purely administrative reasons in the academic recognition procedure in Greece can discourage students from exercising their right to free movement. The excessive length of the academic recognition procedure can raise obstacles to the free movement of students.

Freedom to move within the territory of the Member State is one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the EC Treaty (Article 18).

Article 8 of the EC Treaty confers the status of citizen of the Union to every person holding the nationality of a Member State. As the European Court of Justice has stated in case C-224/98 (D’Hoop): ‘A citizen of the Union must be granted in all Member States the same treatment in law as that accorded to the nationals of those Member States who find themselves in the same situation. It would, therefore, be incompatible with the right of freedom of movement were a citizen, in a Member State of which he is a national, to receive treatment less favourable than he would enjoy if he had not availed himself of the opportunities offered by the EC Treaty in relation to freedom of movement. Those opportunities could not be fully effective if a national of a Member State could be deterred from availing himself of them by obstacles raised on his return to his country of origin …’ Article 149(2) of the EC Treaty aims at encouraging mobility of students.

On the basis of the above-mentioned considerations, the Commission has contacted the Greek authorities asking for the reasons that justify the delays in the academic recognition procedure. The Greek authorities have informed the Commission that the delays were in part due to the large number of applications received by Dikatsa. In order to expedite the process of recognition, the Greek authorities have reviewed the relevant national regulations and proposed to put new procedures in place. Dikatsa has been restructured in order to be able to deal with the large number of applications more effectively.

The Commission continues to follow the evolution of the process of academic recognition in Greece.