Pressure mounts over Italy’s treatment of foreign lecturers

Date: 16/07/1998

By Rory Watson

DIPLOMATIC pressure is growing on Italy to comply with three European Court of Justice rulings and give foreign language university lecturers the same status as their Italian colleagues.

Both the French and British governments have launched their own inquiries into the treatment of more than 1,000 EU nationals after receiving complaints that Italy has been breaking the Union's non-discrimination rules for more than a decade.

French Premier Lionel Jospin's private office has asked the country's foreign ministry to investigate the complaints, and British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has placed the matter in the hands of the UK's department of trade and industry.

Despite the ECJ rulings and criticism from MEPs and the European Commission, the Italian authorities have consistently refused to give foreign language lecturers the same employment conditions as their peers in Italian universities.

The overt interest now being shown by two EU governments and indications that three others - Portugal, Ireland and Luxembourg - are also turning their attention to the problem will increase political pressure on Italy.

"We have been to the European Court of Justice three times and won on each occasion," said David Petrie, chairman of the committee for the defence of foreign lecturers. "The European Parliament and the Commission have done their bit, but this is now a political question and requires political clout. We want this discussed by European government ministers."

The lecturers are being supported by UK Socialist MEP Hugh McMahon who has contacted Cook to check the issue was being looked at by ministers. "I want this on the agenda of an Internal Market Council. It has never been discussed at this level before, but now it must be so that it can be sorted out once and for all," he said.

The political interest comes as a group of lecturers dismissed by Verona University has contacted Social Affairs Commissioner Pádraig Flynn alleging further breaches of European law by the Italian authorities.