Bartolo protests to EU Ombudsman over fees

Opposition EU spokesman Evarist Bartolo has protested to the EU Ombudsman over a decision by British universities to consider Maltese undergraduate students as non-EU students until the end of the scholastic year in June, meaning they would continue to be charged higher fees than EU students.

Speaking on the adjournment in parliament yesterday, Mr Bartolo said that once Malta joined the EU on May 1, Maltese students should be charged the appropriate rate for EU students.

After all, Malta would be assuming the burdens of EU memberhip from May 1. Indeed €2.4 million of Malta's contribution to the EU would end up in Britain as part of the rebate from the EU negotiated by the Thatcher government after it complained that Britain's contribution to the EU was too high. The tuition fee of a Maltese undergraduate in the UK could easily reach £7,200, Mr Bartolo pointed out. Therefore, having a lower fee for 55 days made a significant difference.

He said he had already written to the British universities - which were continuing to insist on their decision. He had also made an appeal to the British High Commissioner and had asked the EU Ombudsman to look into the case.

He hoped that the Maltese government, too, would take up the issue.