Panel inquiry into obstacles facing teachers

Date: 20/06/1996

By Rory Watson

THE plight of foreign language teachers working in Italy will be investigated next week by a special panel of experts chaired by former European Parliament President Simone Veil.

Just two days after Union leaders end their summit meeting in Florence this weekend, the nine-strong team will be in

the Tuscan capital as part of their examination of the legal, administrative and practical barriers preventing individuals from living and working in another EU country.

The panel will be presented with first-hand evidence on the lengthy fight by foreign lecturers to ensure they are treated on an equal basis with their Italian counterparts.

David Petrie, chairman of the Committee for the Defence of Foreign Lecturers, this week welcomed the opportunity to present his colleagues' grievances and promised to provide the panel with “detailed examples of discrimination and malice towards us”.

Veil's group, established by Internal Market Commissioner Mario Monti at the end of April, has been given almost a year to pinpoint stubborn obstacles which still prevent the free movement of people in the Union and suggest how these might be removed.

It intends to use the Florence session to consider problems individuals have run up against when trying to live, work or set up a business in another member state.

These issues are among the seven key areas identified by the panel after receiving over 250 replies from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), trade unions, family associations and various professional federations giving details of their members' first-hand experiences.

Future meetings of the panel will concentrate on access to employment, social and family rights, financial and fiscal issues, cultural rights and access to training, the status of third country nationals legally resident in the Union and the protection of individuals' rights.