BETA


2005/2216(INI) Special report by the European Ombudsman following the complaint 1391/2002/JMA against the European schools

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead PETI DE ROSSA Proinsias (icon: PSE PSE)
Committee Opinion CULT
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 232-p1

Events

2006/06/30
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2006/05/11
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2006/04/06
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2006/04/06
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the own-initiative report drafted by Proinsias DE ROSSA (PES, IE) following a complaint against the European Schools. (Please see the summary of 21/03/2006.) Complaint No 1391/2002/JMA concerned the fact that the European Schools did not provide for the special educational needs of the complainant's daughter and that the Commission was not willing to cover the full cost of the child's special education in the chosen alternative education system available to her (the fee-paying 'International School' of Brussels), resulting in considerable costs being incurred by the family. The Ombudsman also conducted inquiries into a significant number of additional complaints against the European Schools involving similar facts and raising identical allegations. Parliament endorsed the Ombudsman’s conclusions and called on the Commission to take the necessary steps to reimburse to parents of children with special educational needs who are excluded from the European Schools because of their degree of disability the full cost of special educational provision for their children. The Ombudsman's recommendation should also apply to the other complaints which he received in the course of his inquiry involving similar facts and identical allegations.

Parliament underlined that the principle of non-discrimination and equal treatment and the prohibition of any type of discrimination based on grounds of disability constitute the principles and foundations of the EU legal order.

It noted that, whilst the Commission had repeatedly referred to the existence of financial and budgetary limitations which prevent it from covering the full educational costs of children with special educational needs who are excluded from the European Schools, the institution had made no effort to produce an estimate of the financial resources required to meet the obligations imposed by the EC Treaty.

Parliament noted that the Commission provides a doubled dependent child allowance to assist officials with the non-educational costs arising from caring for a child with disabilities. It condemned the Commission’s unilateral withholding of that allowance for the purpose of reducing the Commission's costs in meeting its obligations to the complainant's child.

Finally, Parliament called on the Commission to clarify the extent to which it takes responsibility for ensuring that children of officials have access to appropriate free compulsory education.

Documents
2006/04/06
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2006/03/28
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2006/03/28
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2006/03/21
   EP - Vote in committee
Details

The committee adopted the own-initiative report drawn up by Proinsias DE ROSSA (PES, IE) in response to the Special Report by the European Ombudsman following a complaint against the European Schools. The complaint concerned the fact that the European Schools did not provide for the special educational needs of the complainant's daughter and that the Commission was not willing to cover the full cost of the child's special education in the chosen alternative education system available to her (the fee-paying 'International School' of Brussels), resulting in considerable costs being incurred by the family.

MEPs endorsed the Ombudsman's conclusions calling on the Commission to take steps to ensure that parents of children with special educational needs who are excluded from the European Schools because of their degree of disability should not be required to contribute to the educational costs of their children. They stressed that the right to education, the principle of non-discrimination and equal treatment and the prohibition of any type of discrimination based inter alia on grounds of disability were enshrined in both the EC Treaty and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

2005/11/17
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2005/09/13
   EP - DE ROSSA Proinsias (PSE) appointed as rapporteur in PETI
2004/02/27
   MED - Supplementary non-legislative basic document
Details

PURPOSE : to present a Special Report from the European Ombudsman to the European Parliament following the draft recommendation to the European Commission in complaint 1391/2002/JMA.

CONTENT : on 25 July 2002, a Community official whose daughter is mentally handicapped complained to the Ombudsman about the failure of the European Schools to provide a suitable educational programme for Special Educational Needs (SEN) children of officials. Since the European Schools could not meet those special needs, the complainant was compelled to take her daughter to an alternative education system, the costs of which were not entirely covered by the Commission. Instead, the institution required the complainant to make a financial contribution to the cost of her daughter's special education. The complainant also argues that the Commission, as her employer, failed to carry out its duty to ensure a free education for her child.

Following his inquiry into the case, the Ombudsman took the view that the integration of children with special educational needs (SEN children) into the ordinary education system remains a general policy goal, albeit without a mandatory character. In the absence of a binding legal provision, the Ombudsman did not find that the fact that the complainant’s daughter could not be educated in one of the European Schools constituted maladministration.

The Ombudsman nevertheless found that the financial aspects of the situation constituted an unjustified discrimination, and made a draft recommendation that the Commission should take the necessary steps to ensure that parents of SEN children who are excluded from the European Schools because of their degree of disability should not be required to contribute to the educational costs of their children.

The Commission's detailed opinion, as well as the additional information sent by its services, do not accept unequivocally the draft recommendation. Nor do these documents indicate that the Commission appears willing to reverse its current policy on charging officials for the education of their SEN children. After fully examining the Commission’s arguments, the Ombudsman considers it appropriate to make a Special Report on the matter to the European Parliament and to include a recommendation

therein.

It should be noted that in the course of the inquiry into complaint 1391/2002/JMA, the Ombudsman received a significant number of additional complaints which involved similar facts and raised identical allegations. The Ombudsman also informed the Commission of these complaints. The Ombudsman therefore considers that the analysis in this Special Report and the recommendation also apply to these complaints, which are listed in an annex to this report.

Documents

Documents

  • Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2006)2311
  • Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2006)2095
  • Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
  • Decision by Parliament: T6-0135/2006
  • Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0118/2006
  • Committee report tabled for plenary: A6-0118/2006
  • Supplementary non-legislative basic document: 1391/2002JMA
  • Supplementary non-legislative basic document: 1391/2002JMA
  • Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0118/2006
  • Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2006)2095
  • Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2006)2311

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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  • date: 2006-03-21T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Culture and Education committee: CULT body: EP responsible: True committee: PETI date: 2005-09-13T00:00:00 committee_full: Petitions rapporteur: group: PSE name: DE ROSSA Proinsias type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2006-03-28T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2006-118&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0118/2006 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
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  • date: 2004-02-27T00:00:00 docs: title: 1391/2002JMA summary: PURPOSE : to present a Special Report from the European Ombudsman to the European Parliament following the draft recommendation to the European Commission in complaint 1391/2002/JMA. CONTENT : on 25 July 2002, a Community official whose daughter is mentally handicapped complained to the Ombudsman about the failure of the European Schools to provide a suitable educational programme for Special Educational Needs (SEN) children of officials. Since the European Schools could not meet those special needs, the complainant was compelled to take her daughter to an alternative education system, the costs of which were not entirely covered by the Commission. Instead, the institution required the complainant to make a financial contribution to the cost of her daughter's special education. The complainant also argues that the Commission, as her employer, failed to carry out its duty to ensure a free education for her child. Following his inquiry into the case, the Ombudsman took the view that the integration of children with special educational needs (SEN children) into the ordinary education system remains a general policy goal, albeit without a mandatory character. In the absence of a binding legal provision, the Ombudsman did not find that the fact that the complainant’s daughter could not be educated in one of the European Schools constituted maladministration. The Ombudsman nevertheless found that the financial aspects of the situation constituted an unjustified discrimination, and made a draft recommendation that the Commission should take the necessary steps to ensure that parents of SEN children who are excluded from the European Schools because of their degree of disability should not be required to contribute to the educational costs of their children. The Commission's detailed opinion, as well as the additional information sent by its services, do not accept unequivocally the draft recommendation. Nor do these documents indicate that the Commission appears willing to reverse its current policy on charging officials for the education of their SEN children. After fully examining the Commission’s arguments, the Ombudsman considers it appropriate to make a Special Report on the matter to the European Parliament and to include a recommendation therein. It should be noted that in the course of the inquiry into complaint 1391/2002/JMA, the Ombudsman received a significant number of additional complaints which involved similar facts and raised identical allegations. The Ombudsman also informed the Commission of these complaints. The Ombudsman therefore considers that the analysis in this Special Report and the recommendation also apply to these complaints, which are listed in an annex to this report. type: Supplementary non-legislative basic document body: MED
  • date: 2005-11-17T00:00:00 docs: title: PE365.007 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2006-03-28T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2006-118&language=EN title: A6-0118/2006 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP
  • date: 2006-05-11T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=4579&j=1&l=en title: SP(2006)2095 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
  • date: 2006-06-30T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=4579&j=0&l=en title: SP(2006)2311 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
events
  • date: 2005-11-17T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2006-03-21T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP summary: The committee adopted the own-initiative report drawn up by Proinsias DE ROSSA (PES, IE) in response to the Special Report by the European Ombudsman following a complaint against the European Schools. The complaint concerned the fact that the European Schools did not provide for the special educational needs of the complainant's daughter and that the Commission was not willing to cover the full cost of the child's special education in the chosen alternative education system available to her (the fee-paying 'International School' of Brussels), resulting in considerable costs being incurred by the family. MEPs endorsed the Ombudsman's conclusions calling on the Commission to take steps to ensure that parents of children with special educational needs who are excluded from the European Schools because of their degree of disability should not be required to contribute to the educational costs of their children. They stressed that the right to education, the principle of non-discrimination and equal treatment and the prohibition of any type of discrimination based inter alia on grounds of disability were enshrined in both the EC Treaty and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
  • date: 2006-03-28T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2006-118&language=EN title: A6-0118/2006
  • date: 2006-04-06T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=4579&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2006-04-06T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2006-135 title: T6-0135/2006 summary: The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the own-initiative report drafted by Proinsias DE ROSSA (PES, IE) following a complaint against the European Schools. (Please see the summary of 21/03/2006.) Complaint No 1391/2002/JMA concerned the fact that the European Schools did not provide for the special educational needs of the complainant's daughter and that the Commission was not willing to cover the full cost of the child's special education in the chosen alternative education system available to her (the fee-paying 'International School' of Brussels), resulting in considerable costs being incurred by the family. The Ombudsman also conducted inquiries into a significant number of additional complaints against the European Schools involving similar facts and raising identical allegations. Parliament endorsed the Ombudsman’s conclusions and called on the Commission to take the necessary steps to reimburse to parents of children with special educational needs who are excluded from the European Schools because of their degree of disability the full cost of special educational provision for their children. The Ombudsman's recommendation should also apply to the other complaints which he received in the course of his inquiry involving similar facts and identical allegations. Parliament underlined that the principle of non-discrimination and equal treatment and the prohibition of any type of discrimination based on grounds of disability constitute the principles and foundations of the EU legal order. It noted that, whilst the Commission had repeatedly referred to the existence of financial and budgetary limitations which prevent it from covering the full educational costs of children with special educational needs who are excluded from the European Schools, the institution had made no effort to produce an estimate of the financial resources required to meet the obligations imposed by the EC Treaty. Parliament noted that the Commission provides a doubled dependent child allowance to assist officials with the non-educational costs arising from caring for a child with disabilities. It condemned the Commission’s unilateral withholding of that allowance for the purpose of reducing the Commission's costs in meeting its obligations to the complainant's child. Finally, Parliament called on the Commission to clarify the extent to which it takes responsibility for ensuring that children of officials have access to appropriate free compulsory education.
  • date: 2006-04-06T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
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  • date: 2006-03-21T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Culture and Education committee: CULT body: EP responsible: True committee: PETI date: 2005-09-13T00:00:00 committee_full: Petitions rapporteur: group: PSE name: DE ROSSA Proinsias type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2006-03-28T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2006-118&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0118/2006 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2006-04-06T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=4579&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2006-135 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0135/2006 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
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2005/2216(INI)
title
Special report by the European Ombudsman following the complaint 1391/2002/JMA against the European schools
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Procedure completed
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