REPORT on a European Student Card

17 March 1999

Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media
Rapporteur: Mr Robert Evans

Following a request from the Conference of Committee Chairmen, the President of Parliament announced at the sitting of 17 July 1998 that the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media had been authorised to draw up a report on a European student card.

At its meeting of 2 September 1998 the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media appointed Mr Evans rapporteur.

At its meetings of 17 February and 17 March 1999 it considered the draft report.

At the meeting of 17 February, the committee decided to apply the procedure without debate pursuant to Rule 99(1) of the Rules of Procedure.

At its most recent meeting, it adopted the motion for a resolution unanimously.

The following were present for the vote: Pex, chairman; Baldi and Palm, vice-chairmen; Evans, rapporteur; Anoveros Trias De Bes, Banotti, Gröner, Heinisch, Kerr, Kuhne, Mutin, Ryynänen, Tongue and Vallvé (for Monfils), pursuant to Rule 138(2).

The report was tabled on 17 March 1999.

The deadline for tabling amendments will be indicated in the draft agenda for the part-session at which the report is to be considered.

A MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

Resolution on a European Student Card

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Treaty on European Union, in particular Articles 126 and 127 thereof,

- having regard to the agreement concluded in Lisbon on 1 June 1987 between the organisations managing the young people's passes in Scotland, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece and Luxembourg, and the ensuing EURO<26 youth card,

- having regard to its resolution of 17 February 1989 on the need for a European young people's pass[1],

- having regard to its resolution of 16 February 1990 on Community education and training programmes[2] ,

- having regard to its resolution of 25 January 1991 on the European dimension at university level, with particular reference to student and teacher mobility[3],

- having regard to its resolution of 14 June 1991 on Community policies and their impact on youth[4],

- having regard to its resolution of 15 July 1993 on the Commission memorandum on higher education in the European Community[5],

- having regard to Directive 93/96/EEC on the right of residence for students[6],

- having regard to the judgement of the European Court of Justice of 15 March 1994 (Case C45/93) on discrimination against foreign tourists[7]

- having regard to the Council Resolution of 31 March 1995 on cooperation in the field of youth information and studies concerning youth[8],

- having regard to its resolution of 12 March 1997 on the Commission White Paper on Education and Training, 'Teaching and Learning: Towards the Learning Society'[9],

- having regard to its resolution of 14 May 1997 on the Commission Green Paper on 'Education, Training, Research: The Obstacles to Transnational Mobility'[10],

- having regard to its resolution of 26 June 1997 on the Commission Communication to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, 'Learning in the Information Society - action plan for a European education initiative'[11],

- having regard to the conclusions of the EU Council of Youth Ministers of 28 October 1997,

- having regard to the European Parliament and Council Decision 1686/98/EC of 20 July 1998 establishing the Community action programme 'European Voluntary Service for Young People'[12],

- having regard to the European Parliament and Council Decision 51/99/EC of 21 December 1998 on the promotion of European pathways for work-linked training including apprenticeship[13],

- having regard to its resolution of 13 May 1998 on the Commission Communication to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, 'Towards a Europe of Knowledge'[14],

- having regard to the conclusions of the Cardiff European Council of 15 and 16 June 1998,

- having regard to the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing the Community action programme for youth[15],

- having regard to the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing the second phase of the Community action programme in the field of education (Socrates)[16],

- having regard to the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing the second phase of the Community vocational training action programme (Leonardo da Vinci)[17]

- having regard to the forthcoming Commission proposal for a statute for mobility of students in the European Community,

- having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media,

(A4-0122/99)

A. whereas we are in the process of building a Europe for the people, a process in which young people are more enthusiastic than other age groups,

B. whereas the Community has as one of its main aims an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, and as a result should encourage greater mutual contacts and understanding between the citizens of the different Member States whilst also increasing individual awareness of the Community dimension,

C. whereas individual mobility is a vital element of the European Community's investment in human resources,

D. whereas increased student mobility is essential in order to provide better qualified people who have experience of studying, living and working in other Member States,

E. whereas the time spent studying is as much a life experience as it is an academic one, when people are generally more open to new experiences and ideas, a time that helps shape individuals,

. whereas current, future and past EU programmes for education, youth and training have actively sought to encourage mobility of young people and students, notably Erasmus, European Voluntary Service, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth for Europe,

G. whereas previous Parliament resolutions have called for the introduction of a 'young people's pass' entitling young people to concessions which give them easier access to cultural facilities and promote their mobility throughout the Community,

H. whereas equality should be an integral part of education, and whereas more general and more equal access to cultural goods are important dimensions of equality of opportunity among citizens,

I. whereas a variety of cards or passes already exist for either students and/or young people throughout the European Community which give a variety of concessions, but there is no official European Union 'student card',

J. whereas the principle of mutual recognition of national or regional cards or passes which identify the holder as a 'student' is still not always respected for the purposes of concessions for physical mobility or cultural access,

1. Calls on the European Commission to conduct a feasibility study into the possibility of introducing a European Union student card and other options such as the use of an official European Union logo on nationally issued student cards to enhance mutual recognition of these;

2. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to continue to take appropriate measures to ensure that barriers to mobility for all students are removed;

3. Calls on the Commission to examine how particular use may be made of a European Union student card by reductions, where applicable, to encourage greater participation in cultural activities, or greater access to facilities, which receive European Union funding;

4. Recommends that information campaigns should be conducted through the media and Internet, particularly with the establishment of a web site, on how the card can be obtained and where reductions are available in each of the Member States, such campaigns also to include information on exchange programmes and citizens' rightsand to be carried out in close cooperation with the national regional and local authorities responsible for issuing existing cards;

5. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the governments of the Member States.

• [1]  OJ C 69, 20.3.1989, p.213
• [2]  OJ C 68, 19.3.1990, p.175
• [3]  OJ C 48, 25.2.1991, p.216
• [4]  OJ C 183, 15.7.1991, p.469
• [5]  OJ C 255, 15.7.1993, p.161
• [6]  OJ L 317, 18.12.1993, p.59
• [7]  European Court Reports 1994, p.I-0911
• [8]  OJ C 207, 12.8.1995, p.5
• [9]  OJ C 115, 14.4.1997, p.85
• [10]  OJ C 167, 2.6.1997, p.94
• [11]  OJ C 222, 21.7.1997, p.48
• [12]  OJ L 214, 31.1998, p.1
• [13]  OJ L 17, 22.1.1999, p.45
• [14]  OJ C 167, 1.6.1998, p.136
• [15] COM (98) 0331
• [16]  OJ C 314, 13.10.1998, p.5
• [17]  OJ C 309, 9.10.1998, p.9

B. EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

SUMMARY

There are about 12 million students in higher education in the European Union. In most Member States, students are able to take advantage of a range of benefits and discounts, ranging from cheap stationery and insurance to reduced price access to theatres and art galleries. This report calls on the Commission to carry out a study of possible means of enhancing mutual recognition of student status throughout the European Union so that all students may take advantage of benefits which are available to nationals of the Member State in which a student identity card is presented. It also calls on the Commission to report back to the Parliament.

EUROPE'S STUDENTS

2 More than half of the population in the European Union under the age of 30, slightly less than 83 million people, is in education at one level or another. The majority of these pupils and students are, of course, pupils of compulsory school age, but everywhere students make up a significant proportion of those in full-time education. The meaning of the term 'student' varies from Member State to Member State. In the UK, for example, 'student' generally refers to a person enrolled on a course leading to the award of a university degree or equivalent. In Denmark, however, 'studerende' covers not only a student in the UK sense, but any person over the age of 18 in receipt of a State Grant (S.U.). Thus, pupils preparing for the baccalauriat as well as trainee primary school teachers (whose studies do not lead to the award of a university degree) are considered to be 'studerende'. Most Member States do not have a written definition of student status which tends, therefore, to be defined in a fairly pragmatic way.

3 The UNESCO/OECD/EUROSTAT data collection on education statistics provides internationally comparable data on key aspects of the education systems in the different Member States, classifying pupils and students according to the 1976 UNESCO International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). Students in higher education are defined as those in ISCED levels 5-7. These levels comprise courses of study which generally do not lead to the award of a university degree or equivalent but which require successful completion of upper secondary education (level 5); courses of study leading to the award of a university degree or equivalent (level 6); and (level 7) those leading to a second, postgraduate, university degree. On these broad definitions, there were about 11.7 million 'students' in the EU in 1994-95 and they made up about one-seventh (14%) of all those in education under the age of 30. Students studying in higher education in their home country vary from 12% (Ireland, Sweden) to 18% (Finland) of all those in education; and within individual Member States, the share of the total population in education made up by students varies widely from region to region: students make up 22% of all those in education in Emilia-Romagna, but less than 10% in Sicily.

BEING A STUDENT

4 According to the Eurobarometer survey of young people carried out in 1997, more than half of young Europeans (57%) had visited another EU country in the two years preceding the survey. When asked to think of the forseeable future benefits of the EU, almost half (48%) of the young people surveyed listed as their top priority that it should be "easier to travel, study, work and live anywhere in Europe." Students are an unusually mobile section of the younger population. In some Member States, the United Kingdom for instance, it has been the norm for students deliberately to choose to study at a university outside the region in which they have grown up. In other Member States, the Federal Republic of Germany for example, students have commonly moved from one university to another in the course of their studies, beginning their studies at one university, continuing them at another, and completing them at a third. For a long time, the opportunity to study at a university abroad was the preserve of a small and privileged minority. The ERASMUS programme, launched in 1987 and now subsumed within SOCRATES, had as its central objective mobility of students and teaching staff and has helped a wider section of the student population to profit from the experience of study abroad: about half a million students have followed a course outside their home country and Parliament and the Council have described the achievements of the first phase of the SOCRATES programme as 'exceptional'.

5 Students are also an unusually open-minded section of the population. Indeed, it is a characteristic of higher education in the European tradition that it encourages an openness to, and enthusiasm for, new ideas and experiences. Older students and those returning to higher education - a group which will grow as a proportion of the student body as the importance of lifelong learning increases - are also expected to exhibit such an openness.

OBSTACLES TO MOBILITY

6 A number of obstacles stand in the way of even greater mobility among Europe's students. Perhaps the most important are lack of money, lack of linguistic competence and the fact that students often fail to gain credit for the studies they have undertaken outside the Member States of which they are national. Under the SOCRATES scheme, for instance, the average scholarship granted to students in the first phase of the programme (1994-99) was ECU 100, while the true cost of their mobility is five times higher. As far as linguistic competence is concerned, 71% of the young Europeans taking part in the Eurobarometer survey said that they were able to speak a language other than their own 'well enough to have a conversation' in it. It seems reasonable to assume that students in higher education have, on average, a better command of other languages than young people as a whole: whether they have a sufficiently good command of another language to make studying in that language a realistic option is another matter. Finally, there remains considerable evidence that, at a practical level, the reluctance of many institutions of higher education to give full recognition to study abroad deters many students from embarking on courses of study outside their Member States.

7 A more minor, but nevertheless significant, obstacle to greater student mobility is the fact that students outside their Member State seem commonly to face problems securing recognition of their national student status and hence of their entitlement to benefits .such as reduced-price admission to museums which would be available to them were their student status to be recognised.

8 Everywhere in Europe, students have long been offered benefits and concessions reflecting the fact that they have typically enjoyed significantly lower incomes than their contemporaries who have left education for the world of work. Beyond this general statement, however, it is almost impossible to generalise about the situation in the different Member States. Not only do benefits vary from one state to another, but there are few national student guides which provide an overview. In France, for example, the 1998-99 brochure of the main student union (L'Union Nationale des Etudiants de France, UNEF) does not mention concessions and discounts: the principal benefit available to French students enrolled on higher education courses seems to be reduced social security contributions. In the United Kingdom, by contrast, the National Union of Students (NUS), to which almost all British students belong, owns the major share of NUS Services Limited, a company set up to negotiate the best deals for student bars and shops. Because of the special deals negotiated by NUS Services Limited, students in affiliated local student unions have access to cheaper drinks, food, stationery, sports equipment and many other consumer goods. Students are able to use their NUS membership card as proof of student status in order to gain reduced price admission to art galleries, museums, theatres, concerts and nightclubs. The NUS even offers students - through Endsleigh Insurance, a company it set up in the 1960s - cheap insurance for their belongings.

9 Many benefits and concessions, of course, are commonly available to young people in most EU Member States regardless of whether they are students or not. In many cases, it is sufficient to present a national identity (or even a passport or driving license) which establishes one's age to obtain discounts such as reduced price admission to museums or art galleries. Moreover, many companies have their own youth policies and types of concession. In France, SNCF (the national rail company), for example, issues a special card for young people under 25 years old and offers special cards for young couples. Similarly, in the UK, young people under the age of 26 years old, are able to buy a Young Person's railcard which offers reduced price travel on the rail network. It remains the case, however, that some benefits or concessions are available only to those able to confirm their student status. It is also the case, of course, that benefits and concessions which are age-related tend to discriminate against older students and those returning to higher education.

10 The introduction of a European Student Card, or the addition to existing student identity cards ofa logo identifying their bearers as students at institutions of higher education within the European Union, would enable students travelling outside their Member State to establish their student status more easily and so to claim whatever benefits and concessions to which they might be entitled.

EXISTING STUDENTS' AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S CARDS

11 There already exist a number of students and young people's cards which claim to offer their bearers internationally recognised proof of student status. The most well-known of these is the International Student Identity Card, which is valid for one year from the date of issue: it was launched in 1968 to provide the travelling student with a single, uniform identity document and more than 30 million ISIC cards have been issued. The ISIC is administered by the ISIC Association, an international non-profit making association based in Amsterdam. The Association works through the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC), whose members negotiate collectively with airlines, governments and providers of goods and services. Other than reduced-price travel, benefits linked to the card are many and various. The ISIC, for example, gives its bearers access to reducedprice entry to many cultural and historical sites; discounts on a variety of goods and services; access to a network of student service organizations in more than 90 countries; Help Line services, including emergency, legal and medical assistance; and to worldwide communication services packages. The ISIC has been adopted by many universities, colleges , schools and student unions as a joint identity card, giving the cardholder access to the benefits available both through the ISIC and through the local college or university identity card. The card costs about EURO 9.

12 Less well-known than the ISIC is the EURO<26 Youth Card . The card is administered through the European Youth Card Association (EYCA), a non-profit making organization. It is valid for one year and can be renewed each year until the holder reaches the age of 26: the cost of the card varies from EURO 4 to EURO 15, depending on the issuing authority.. In each of the 28 countries where the card is available, it is issued by a single national or regional youth card organization which is recognised by the regional or national authorities and which is a member of the European Youth Card Association. In 1991, the Council of Europe agreed to endorse the card by adopting a Partial Agreement on the Youth Card, acknowledging it as a tool to support youth mobility in Europe. In 1997, over 2.5 million young people carried a youth card with the Euro-26 logo. Each EYCA member - 45 youth card organizations from 28 countries - negotiates concessions and information on domestic and international transport, accommodation, travel insurance, culture, leisure and sports in its country for cardholders. The Euro-26 logo, and the principle of reciprocity of advantages, ensures that these discounts are automatically available to all cardholders throughout Europe. The card, the EYCA claims, helps young people to be more mobile within their own countries and encourages them to make the most of their travels abroad. Youth Card holders receive one or more of 20 magazines and newsletters, which promote themes such as "Europe without Barriers" and "Pro-Tolerance". The EYCA also has a website and many of the more than 200,000 concessions available to cardholders have been entered in a database which can be accessed via this web-site, providing young people and card organizations with up-to-date information.

13 The achievements of the ISIC and the EURO<26 Youth Card in reaching young people and in promoting mobility among young people in Europe are impressive. However, three points about the ISIC and EURO<26 Card should be noted:

a) Unsurprisingly, since applicants for the cards must apply individually and pay an administration fee, neither card has succeeded in reaching 100% of its target group. The ISIC, for instance, estimates that perhaps 20-30% students in higher education in the United Kingdom are cardholders. Annual sales are much higher in some Member States than in others. For instance, 278,000 cards were issued in the UK and 217,000 in Germany in 1997, but only 118,000 in Italy and a mere 50,000 in France (despite the fact that the student population in the latter two Member States is larger than that in the first two). Similarly, while the EURO<26 card has reached 2.5 million young Europeans, this is nevertheless a fairly small proportion of the total population of Europe aged between 18 and 26. And it should of course be remembered that the EURO<26 Card is not available at all in Denmark or Sweden.

b) There remain significant groups which are unable to benefit from the advantages offered by the existing cards. Students over the age of 26 are not eligible for the EURO<26 Card and non-students whatever their age are not able to apply for an ISIC card.

c) While the organizations behind each of the cards is international in outlook and while the EURO<26 card fairly explicitly seeks to emphasize the importance of tolerance and openness to other European cultures, neither is able to contribute much to citizenship-building within the European Union.

In short, the case for the introduction of another card - a European Student Card - or, alternatively, for enhanced efforts to promote mutual recognition of student status remains a good one.

A NEW STUDENT CARD OR A LOGO?

14 There seem to be two possible ways forward. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

15 A European Student Card: The chief advantages of introducing a new EU student card would be that it would provide all students in the EU with a uniform, easily recognised and universally accepted proof of student status; and would also enhance their consciousness of themselves as European citizens. Against these advantages, however, must be set a number of technical and financial difficulties. Which body would be the issuing authority, how would this be governed, and how would it be financed? How would the issuing authority ensure that the EU Student Card reached a larger number of students than are currently reached by the ISIC and Euro-26 cards? How would the issuing authority ensure that the card was issued only to those who genuinely are students? Assuming that the issuing of such cards was devolved by the overall issuing authority to national, regional and individual university authorities, would these be willing to assume the administrative overhead of issuing another student identity card to their student populations?

16 An EU Logo: An alternative means of enhancing mutual recognition of student status would be to promote the addition to existing student cards issued by national, regional and university authorities of a logo which identified the bearer of the card as a person who was recognised by the issuing authority as a student. Such a logo might consist of the European flag with a symbol - an open book, perhaps? - and the word "student" in the official languages. The main disadvantage of a logo, as compared with a new EU Student Card, would be that it would do less to raise the cardholders' consciousness of their European citizenship.

17 Since merely enhanced recognition of student status is the objective, no common definition would be necessary if the card/logo were to be available to all who currently have access to student cards issued within their Member State.

18 . The European Court of Justice ruled in March 1994 that tourists who are nationals of a Member State have the right to enjoy cultural services (the case specifically concerned discrimination on the basis of nationality with respect to reduced price admission to museums) in another Member State under the same conditions as nationals of that second State. It remains to be seen whether this ruling has wider applicability embracing other services.

CONCLUSION

19 Your rapporteur is aware that the Commission has in the past expressed scepticism about the added value of a Community university identity card in comparison with existing student cards at European and international level. He is also aware, however, that the Commission is currently actively engaged in the preparation of a proposal to the Council and Parliament of a 'European Statute for Students Studying Abroad in the European Union'. Action to enhance the recognition of student status more generally would surely be a welcome complementary initiative. Your rapporteur invites the Committee to call on the Commission to carry out a feasibility study to determine the form such action might best take.