The Right to Education for European Union Migrants - A Study of the Right to Education in the Host State for Children Who Exercise Their Freedom of Movement for a Maximum of Three Months
(2015) JURM02 20151Department of Law
- Abstract
- The right to primary education has been subject to regulation in both international human rights law and EU law. However, the right to education in the host state for EU migrants who lawfully exercise their freedom of movement, for a maximum of three months, is unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate whether such a right exists in this particular circumstance.
EU legislation explicitly provides a right to education for children of workers but for other categories, such as self-employed people, job seekers or persons who do not fit into any of these categories, there does not exist any explicit right to education. The study investigates two openings that EU law provides to enjoy a right to education; through the parent’s status... (More) - The right to primary education has been subject to regulation in both international human rights law and EU law. However, the right to education in the host state for EU migrants who lawfully exercise their freedom of movement, for a maximum of three months, is unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate whether such a right exists in this particular circumstance.
EU legislation explicitly provides a right to education for children of workers but for other categories, such as self-employed people, job seekers or persons who do not fit into any of these categories, there does not exist any explicit right to education. The study investigates two openings that EU law provides to enjoy a right to education; through the parent’s status as a worker or through the equal treatment provision. If it is not possible for a person to fulfil the criteria for being a worker the possibility of finding a right to education enshrined in the equal treatment provision in the EU Citizenship Directive has to be investigated. This study concludes that education is not part of social assistance, which is the only possibility to derogate from equal treatment during the first three months of residence in the host state. The equal treatment could therefore possibly include a right to education regardless of length of stay in the host state.
Due to the uncertainty of an explicit right to education in EU law for all persons regardless of economic status, international human rights law is examined in order to see how it regulates the right. International human rights law do provide for the right to education and even though international treaties are signed by states and only in some case by the EU, EU legislation should be interpreted in the light of EU’s Charter on Fundamental Rights (CFR) which in its turn should be interpreted in the light of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The European Court of Human Rights, along with other international bodies, has established that the right to education is of such fundamental character that derogations are almost impossible.
In light of the outlined the right to education is contextualised for a particular group of Roma EU-migrants who are coming to Sweden and are begging, collecting cans or selling street papers in order to survive and to be able to send money to their families. The question of whether this particular group can be considered workers is investigated. It turns out that it is problematic to consider begging fulfilling the requirements for work settled in EU law. Hence, children to parents in this group of persons, along with all other EU-migrant children who do not have working parents, are left without any explicit right to education in EU-law.
This study concludes, after an overall assessment of the relevant frameworks that coexist, that a right to education for children who exercise their freedom of movement for a maximum of three months does exist in the host state. This is due to the reference in the CFR to the ECHR taken together with the strong position the right to education has been given in international human rights law and EU’s reliance upon international frameworks. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Rätten till grundskola har blivit föremål för reglering i internationella instrument rörande mänskliga rättigheter såväl som i EU-lagstiftning. För de EU-migranter som lagligt utnyttjar sin rätt till fri rörlighet i maximalt tre månader är existensen av rätten till utbildning i den mottagande medlemsstaten dock oklart och syftet med den här studien är att undersöka huruvida en sådan rätt finns i den här specifika situationen.
EU-rätten medger uttryckligen en rätt till utbildning till barn vars föräldrar är arbetare, men för andra kategorier såsom egenföretagare, jobbsökande eller personer som inte passar in i någon av de nämnda kategorierna, så finns det ingen uttrycklig rätt till utbildning. Studien undersöker de två möjligheter som... (More) - Rätten till grundskola har blivit föremål för reglering i internationella instrument rörande mänskliga rättigheter såväl som i EU-lagstiftning. För de EU-migranter som lagligt utnyttjar sin rätt till fri rörlighet i maximalt tre månader är existensen av rätten till utbildning i den mottagande medlemsstaten dock oklart och syftet med den här studien är att undersöka huruvida en sådan rätt finns i den här specifika situationen.
EU-rätten medger uttryckligen en rätt till utbildning till barn vars föräldrar är arbetare, men för andra kategorier såsom egenföretagare, jobbsökande eller personer som inte passar in i någon av de nämnda kategorierna, så finns det ingen uttrycklig rätt till utbildning. Studien undersöker de två möjligheter som ges inom EU-lagstiftningen för en rätt till utbildning; genom förälderns status som arbetare eller genom principen om likabehandling. Om det inte är möjligt för en person att uppfylla kriterierna för att anses vara en arbetare så får rätten till utbildning sökas genom ett studera principen om likabehandling i rörlighetsdirektivet. Den här studien drar slutsatsen att utbildning inte är en del av socialt bistånd, vilket är den enda möjligheten att inskränka principen om likabehandling under de tre första månaderna i den mottagande medlemsstaten. Principen om likabehandling kan därför möjligen inkludera en rätt till utbildning oavsett längden på vistelsen i den mottagande staten.
På grund av osäkerheten huruvida en uttrycklig rätt till utbildning finns, oavsett ekonomisk status, i EU-rätten så undersöks internationella instrument rörande mänskliga rättigheter i syfte att se hur rätten till utbildning är reglerad där. De internationella instrumenten rörande mänskliga rättigheter ger uttryck för en rätt till utbildning och även om internationella instrument är ratificerade av stater och inte av EU, så ska EU-rätten tolkas i ljuset av EUs stadga om de grundläggande rättigheterna som i sin tur ska tolkas i ljuset av Europeiska konventionen om skydd för de mänskliga rättigheterna (EKMR). Europadomstolen har, liksom flera kommentarer till de internationella instrumenten, klargjort att rätten till utbildning är av en sådan fundamental karaktär att den i princip är omöjlig att inskränka.
I ljuset av det som framförts så kontextualiseras rätten till utbildning genom att se på ett konkret exempel av en särskild grupp EU-migranter av romskt ursprung som kommer till Sverige och tvingas tigga för att överleva och skicka pengar till sina familjer. Frågan huruvida den här särskilda gruppen kan anses vara arbetare undersöks. Det visar sig problematiskt att anse att tiggeri uppfyller kraven för arbete enligt EU-rätten. Därför är barn till föräldrar i den här särskilda gruppen, tillsammans med alla andra EU-migrerande barn som inte har arbetande föräldrar, lämnade utan någon uttrycklig rätt till utbildning enligt EU-rätten.
Den här studien drar slutsatsen, efter en helhetsbedömning av de relevanta ramverk som samexisterar, att en rätt till utbildning för barn som utnyttjar sin rätt till fri rörlighet i maximalt tre månader existerar i den mottagande medlemsstaten. Detta på grund av referensen i EUs stadga om de grundläggande friheterna till EKMR, sammantaget med den starka position som rätten till utbildning har getts i internationella instrument rörande mänskliga rättigheter och EUs tillit till dessa. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/5431751
- author
- Areskoug, Hedvig LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JURM02 20151
- year
- 2015
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- EU-law
- language
- English
- additional info
- hedvig.areskoug@gmail.com
0707-559358
891012-3986
Datum for examensseminarium: 29 maj 2015. - id
- 5431751
- date added to LUP
- 2015-06-09 14:48:35
- date last changed
- 2015-06-12 09:35:25
@misc{5431751,
abstract = {{The right to primary education has been subject to regulation in both international human rights law and EU law. However, the right to education in the host state for EU migrants who lawfully exercise their freedom of movement, for a maximum of three months, is unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate whether such a right exists in this particular circumstance.
EU legislation explicitly provides a right to education for children of workers but for other categories, such as self-employed people, job seekers or persons who do not fit into any of these categories, there does not exist any explicit right to education. The study investigates two openings that EU law provides to enjoy a right to education; through the parent’s status as a worker or through the equal treatment provision. If it is not possible for a person to fulfil the criteria for being a worker the possibility of finding a right to education enshrined in the equal treatment provision in the EU Citizenship Directive has to be investigated. This study concludes that education is not part of social assistance, which is the only possibility to derogate from equal treatment during the first three months of residence in the host state. The equal treatment could therefore possibly include a right to education regardless of length of stay in the host state.
Due to the uncertainty of an explicit right to education in EU law for all persons regardless of economic status, international human rights law is examined in order to see how it regulates the right. International human rights law do provide for the right to education and even though international treaties are signed by states and only in some case by the EU, EU legislation should be interpreted in the light of EU’s Charter on Fundamental Rights (CFR) which in its turn should be interpreted in the light of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The European Court of Human Rights, along with other international bodies, has established that the right to education is of such fundamental character that derogations are almost impossible.
In light of the outlined the right to education is contextualised for a particular group of Roma EU-migrants who are coming to Sweden and are begging, collecting cans or selling street papers in order to survive and to be able to send money to their families. The question of whether this particular group can be considered workers is investigated. It turns out that it is problematic to consider begging fulfilling the requirements for work settled in EU law. Hence, children to parents in this group of persons, along with all other EU-migrant children who do not have working parents, are left without any explicit right to education in EU-law.
This study concludes, after an overall assessment of the relevant frameworks that coexist, that a right to education for children who exercise their freedom of movement for a maximum of three months does exist in the host state. This is due to the reference in the CFR to the ECHR taken together with the strong position the right to education has been given in international human rights law and EU’s reliance upon international frameworks.}},
author = {{Areskoug, Hedvig}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The Right to Education for European Union Migrants - A Study of the Right to Education in the Host State for Children Who Exercise Their Freedom of Movement for a Maximum of Three Months}},
year = {{2015}},
}