Over the past 25 years European Voice has reported on our case. I am very happy to see that in this week’s Entre Nous section they carried a piece entitled “An unlikely career move” on Mario Monti’s appointment as Italy’s prime minister. European Voice acknowledges that Monti will have a lot on his plate but gives the former EU Commissioner a little nudge “Will Italy now put an end to an ancient wrong?“
See link
http://www.europeanvoice.com/CWS/Index.aspx?PageID=217&articleID=72671.
Mario Monti
Mark Whitaker, for BBC radio, File on Four, interviewed Mr Monti, myself and Dr Victoria Primhak, on foreign lecturers in Italian Universities being denied their rights under single market rules. The programme was broadcast on June 3 1997.
Mario Monti - a worrying asymmetry - in certain member states
Mark Whitaker: The rights of European people, haven’t, Mr Monti (the European Commissioner responsible for the single market) admits, been a sufficient priority for Europe’s institutions.
Mario Monti : The Community, that is the Commission the other European institutions and member states have concentrated greater efforts in achieving freedoms of movement for goods, capital and services, less so for people. Partly because of the original conception of European integration as being economically driven, partly because if we put ourselves in the position of each individual member state – one is happier if it receives capital than if it receives people.
If we look at different indicators of compliance with single market rules in particular the transposition of single market directives into national legislation there is presently a curious, and I would say worrying, asymmetry with some member states that are very keen on integration and in monetary integration particular lying towards the bottom of the league table,
Mark Whitaker: You now under the Maastricht Treaty have the power to fine a country, will you do so?
Yes, we will do so – as we move closer to economic and monetary union it makes less and less sense to have a crippled EU labour market and obstacles to labour mobility and to mobility of people in general.
——————————-
We wish Mr Monti every success in his new post as Italian Prime Minister
Rome, 7 October 2011
I was in the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation this morning for an appeal in Petrie v Civello and Rossi. On 29 January 2003 a Court of First Instance in Bologna awarded me damages of €19,000 for defamation. This judgment was overturned by the Bologna Appeal Court on 17 June 2008.
At the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation
This morning my lawyer argued 4 points, two of which concerned formalities. One of these points was that proper legal formalities concerning the state advocate’s mandate to take the case to the appeal court had not been followed. The Advocate General supported this view and if the court follows, then the Bologna Appeal Court judgment of 17 June 2008 would be struck down.
On the merits – it was argued that although I did not say at a hearing in the European Parliament that “Italy is country of the mafia” … my speech (in English) may have been incorrectly interpreted into Italian.
It was further argued that people must have the right to free expression and to criticise. While we recognise this – this right must not be abused and must be based on facts and not falsehoods.
At the hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels I did make reference to two concrete documented cases showing how “raccomandazione” – meaning favouring one candidate’s application over another on grounds other than meritocracy worked in the context of Italian universities.
I was represented by Professor Lorenzo Picotti who deposited 13 pages of legal reasoning and was allowed ample to illustrate his points to the five judges in the Supreme Court.
I would expect to receive a judgment in a few months.
For background to the the case read on ….
1) Hearing of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee – European Parliament – 26.02.97
In Brussels, on 26 February 1997 I gave evidence to the Employment and Social Affairs Committee of the European Parliament. I was speaking in my capacity as chairman of ALLSI, (Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy) on the longstanding dispute concerning discrimination against non-Italian foreign lecturers “lettori” working in Italian universities.
At the same hearing, the Italian state was represented by Bruno Civello, a functionary in the Italian Ministry of Education and by Adriano Rossi, a former vice-Chancellor of the Oriental University of Naples.
At the hearing I highlighted examples of how laws and practices in Italian university are used to prevent non-Italians from receiving equal treatment under EU single market rules, with regard to access to employment, mutual recognition of qualifications, salaries, maternity leave and pensions.
My speech was interrupted by Italian MEPs and chairman Stephen Hughes MEP had to intervene twice to restore order and defend my right to be heard.
2) Public meeting – Bologna 23.01.98
Subsequently, on 23 January 1998 I attended a public meeting in Bologna at which Bruno Civello was addressing an audience of around 200 lecturers and trade unionists.
At that meeting Bruno Civello alleged that Italy had been defamed in the European Parliament as “a country run by the Mafia” and that the author of the defamation was sitting in the auditorium. I protested that Mr Civello’s remarks were false and defamatory and I invited him to withdraw them. He refused, whereupon Adriano Rossi stood up and supported Civello’s accusation, adding that he too was present at the Brussels meeting of 26 February 1997.
I informed them, and the meeting, that a journalist working for The Guardian had recorded my entire speech to the European Parliament and that the journalist had given me a copy.
I told them if they withdrew the false and defamatory accusation we could get on with the meeting and I would take the matter no further.
They refused.
On 27 July 1998 I raised an action in Bologna against Mr Civello and Mr Rossi for defamation.
3) The Guardian tape and the (missing) European Parliament tapes
During the procedural phase of the case my lawyer wanted the court to hear “The Guardian tape” as evidence. The Italian state advocate, representing Civello and Rossi objected saying that the authenticity of the “Guardian” tape could not be guaranteed , the judge agreed and ruled that the tape was inadmissible.
On Thursday 2 December 1999 I visited the European Parliament and asked Mr Roy Perry MEP if he could supply me with an officially authenticated copy of my speech from the tape recordings held in archives of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee. Mr Perry’s assistant took me to the appropriate office.
I was handed a carton containing only 9 tapes – where there should have been 10.
No one could explain why the 10th tape was missing – the missing tape was the one which I recorded me speaking directly in English.
Four cassettes were “originals” – in which each speaker is recorded directly in the language he is speaking and 5 were all in French, the “interpreters” copy.
I identified tape number 2 “TECH/OP.MC8 “Situation des enseignants étrangers dans les universities italiennes” as the interpreters (in French) tape of the hearing and was supplied with an authenticated copy.
However, when we came to transcribing the ( French) interpreters version of my speech we discovered that the tape had been damaged/wiped – obliterating parts of my speech at a crucial point.
Since I had been informed that backups are made of all tapes, I asked Mr Perry to procure a copy of my original speech in English from the Parliament’s backup archives.
On 10 December 1999, Mr Perry’s assistant phoned me saying that the Employment and Social Affairs Office did not have a backup either in English or French.
No one could explain why no backup could be found.
4) The Brussels police and the recovery of the (missing) European Parliament tape.
On 4 May 2000 I lodged a complaint with the Brussels police alleging theft and damage to intellectual property. Since the tapes were not in their usual place, theft was the only plausible explanation. The fact that 2 tapes were missing and a third tape had been damaged – having been wiped in the part which was of interest to me – suggests the whole matter was orchestrated in order to prevent me from proving defamation in the case I had raised in Bologna.
Stephen Hughes MEP took the matter up with the President of the European Parliament, Madam Nicole Fontaine.
I informed the President’s lawyer Hans Kroek that I would sue the European Parliament for the value of the Bologna law suit – in the event that I am unable to recover the missing tape.
On 21 November 2000 Mr Kroeck furnished Sir Neil MacCormick MEP with an authenticated copy of the tape which was then forwarded in a sealed container to the Bologna court and was accepted in evidence.
5) Bologna Court awards damages 06.04.03 – overturned by the Court of Appeal 25.09.08.
On 6 April 2003 the Bologna tribunal decided that the acquisition of the tape removed all doubt on the factual situation and that I did not use the expressions falsely attributed to me by Mr Civello and confirmed by Mr Rossi. I was awarded €19,000 + interest in damages as well as costs of €6,520.
Mr Civello and Rossi were ordered to publish an extract of the judgment in both Corriere Della Sera and La Republica. They refused to comply with the Court’s order to publish the extract. I therefore paid for its publication and recovered the cost from them through the courts. See link http://www.allsi.org/Cor9giu04.htm
PRESS UPDATE – MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH – DAVID WILLETTS & ITALIAN MINISTER MARIASTELLA GELMINI – ROME MEETING 22 SEPTEMBER.
I am very happy to report that Italian Minister for Education, Universities and Research, Mariastella Gelmini met with UK Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts in Rome on 20 September 2011.
Minister Mariastella Gelmini
Minister David Willetts
This is the first time in our 25 year campaign for equal treatment that an Italian Minister has sat down to talk to a UK Minister specifically on the subject of fair treatment of migrant lecturers in accordance with European single market rules.
It is a significant breakthrough – and we warmly thank both Minister Willetts and Minister Gelmini.
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials confirmed today that Minister Willetts was warmly received by Minister Gelmini who said that she was aware of the problems and was anxious to ensure that foreign lecturers will receive equal rights as Italian lecturers. The FCO described the meeting as welcoming and positive.
We are confident that progress has been made and closure is in sight. I would expect officials from both the UK and the Italian authorities to be working closely in the coming weeks.
More at – The Italian Insider: Hope at last for Foreign Lecturers in Italy? http://www.italianinsider.it/?q=node/430
David Petrie tel +39 347 4297324
Prime Minister David Cameron’s robust intervention against Italy’s flouting of the core principles of the EU single market – see letter to Christopher Burchett who teaches at Milan University – was reported both in the UK and Italy – The Daily Telegraph, The Times Higher Education, L’Espresso and Nannimagazine.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=417080
http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio/lettori-stranieri-che-storiaccia/2157946
I am pleased to announce that British politicians are showing strong support for those non-Italian lecturers known as “lettori” still suffering discrimination based on nationality in most of Italy’s universities.
The British Foreign Office issued this statement, “Europe Minister Chris Bryant has agreed to meet with the “lettori” this month. He is sympathetic to their concerns and will be raising the issue with his Italian counterpart.“
The meeting between ALLSI (Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy) will take place on 1 February 2010 at 10.30 in London.
We have also secured the support of Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Following recent meetings with the government in London and the European Commission in Brussel I feel that the year 2010 may well be a breakthrough for our campaign and for equal treatment and fairness in the European Union. For almost 30 years we have been up against the persistent refusal of the Italian university authorities to pay foreign lecturers on the same scale as Italian lecturers, to recognise continuity of employment and to hold fair competitions for full academic post – all of which have been found to be in breach of European law and are, without doubt, the clearest mass systematic breaches of the EU Treaty. If you scour the websites of British Universities you will find scores of Italians teaching in British universities. I know of not one single complaint from one single Italian citizen claiming he/she is being discriminated against because of his/her passport. Yet in a sample 255 non-Italians working in 18 universities shows that 83% are still not receiving equal treatment under the European Treaty, despite a record 7 judgments of the European Court of Justice. We thank all of the British politicians who are supporting us – it’s not about right and left, it’s about right and wrong.
The campaign received a major boost from Shadow Foreign Secretary Mr. William Hague who said “Where British citizens have been denied the rights they are entitled to because an EU Member State has failed to implement EU law properly the British Government should raise the matter with the relevant Government. The Government needs to address the situation of British lecturers in Italy. The principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality is crucial to the Single Market. All EU Member States have a duty to uphold it.”
http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_Parliament/Hague_William.aspx
Mr Peter Kilfoyle MP who has promised to support our campaign in the House of Commons said “This disgraceful denial of the rights of British academics in Italy must end. For too long, British governments of left and right have failed to stand up for these British citizens working abroad. I call upon the Foreign Secretary to make a firm commitment on this and end this injustice once and for all.”
Italian lawyer, Professor Lorenzo Picotti who has represented the lecturers in the European Court of Justice and in hundreds of cases in Italy, said “Each EU member state must ensure that decisions of the European Court of Justice are respected and effectively implemented. This is an essential principle not only for the lecturers working – or who have worked – for years in the Italian universities and have had to fight again and again against discrimination. The future development of the European Union, after the coming into force of the new Treaty of Lisbon, is at stake here.”
Background
Hundreds of non-Italian lecturers working in Italian universities known as “lettori” have been denied parity of treatment with their Italian counterparts for three decades. Employed under an Italian decree law of 1980 they have been seeking parity of treatment under EU single market rules, with regard to salary scales, pensions and social security rights and access to jobs. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled on lettori cases a record of seven times (see http://www.allsi.org/allsi_about.html )
Italy abrogated its offending 1980 decree in 1995 replacing it with a law which the lecturers alleged downgraded them to the status of technicians. The ECJ ruled in 2001 that this 1995 Italian law failed to guarantee the non-Italian citizens equal treatment and that Italy, the Court ruled, had therefore failed to uphold its Treaty obligations. Italy brought in further legislation in 2004.
This 2004 legislation resulted in a call from the ECJs Portuguese Advocate General, Poiares Maduro to fine Italy €309,750 per day until the discrimination ceased. The ECJ in a judgment of 18 July 2006 declined to do so saying that it had not been demonstrated that Italy’s infringement had continued up until the date in which the Court examined the facts. The ECJ ruled further that the 2004 legislation did provide a legal framework for paying the lecturers arrears in wages and regularizing their social security and pension rights.
However, the lecturers met officials of the European Commission in Brussels on 11 November 2009 and Foreign Office officials in London on 8 December 2009 and deposited a dossier showing that in a sample of 255 lettori in 18 Italian universities 83% were still clearly being denied their rights as interpreted by the ECJ.
David Petrie, ALLSI chair www.allsi.org
David Petrie and Victoria Primhak Ph.D present UK Minister for Europe Chris Bryant with a dossier, at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London:
“Foreign lecturers in Italian universities: the biggest case of mass discrimination based on nationality in the history of the European Union”.
HOW THE WEEKEND WENT: Friday 29 January 2010, we have printed and bound 55 press cuttings going back to April 1993 to give to Chris Bryant on Monday at 10.30. We are ready and I’m now looking forward to an easy weekend.
My google alert flags up somthing in the University of Padova or Padua as we Brits call it – better have a look. Bang goes the quiet weekend. Press releases are hard work.
Monday morning. We are shown into Chris Bryant’s office. He greets us with a loud ”buon giorno” and laughs before sitting us down on a leather sofa. Positioning himself on our left, he spreads back the palms of his hands, looks us straight in the eye and says:
“Well, you don’t have to lobby me”.
Good stuff. I can keep my bag full of documents closed. His officials have clearly done their job.
Has he seen this morning’s Guardian, we inquire, we’ve brought you a copy? Read it over breakfast, he nods – and we’re straight into the politics of getting a state to honour and respect the fundamental principles it signed up to in The Treaty of Rome on 25 March 1957.
He’ll be raising the matter with the competent Italian ministries and writing an article for the Italian press. Our warm thanks to Mr Bryant and his officials whom we’ll be working closely with over the next few weeks.
Verona, 3 February 2010
On Friday the United Kingdom Association for European Law held a conference hosted in the Scottish Parliament on Devolved Jurisdictions and the European Union.
Three of the speakers had been directly involved with the foreign lecturers discrimination cases against Italy in the European Court of Justice; Francis Jacobs as Advocate General; Clive Lewis QC, supporting the Commission’s case on behalf of the British government and European Court of Justice judge David Edward (now retired).
I’m there, feeling a little bit like a fish out of water.
Funny people lawyers – they love details. I am sitting at a table in the foyer, waiting to go into the chamber, when a retired magistrate (as she later reveals) leans over and picks up her coffee, which is sitting a few inches from my right hand.
As she arms down, I glance up.
“It IS my coffee” she says, matter of factly – before adding her evidential point, which is: “it’s got lipstick on the cup”.
“Yes” I say, in agreement, “and it’s not my shade of lipstick either”. Case resolved.
It was a great pleasure to see Hugh McMahon aka “the bulldog”, Labour MEP for Scotland from 1984 until 1999, when he was shafted by the Labour party because he was a man.
Hugh worked tirelessly for the foreign lecturers in Italy and built cross-party support in the European Parliament – steering through two resolutions at the Strasbourg plenary.
I meet Hugh at the reception, he spots judge Edward and grabs my arm and saying “lets go”.
Hugh’s style was refreshingly simply – he would collar people in authority, tell them what was happening, wait until they agreed with him whereupon he would shuffle his feet, lean back, cock his head slightly to the left and say “so what are you going to do about it?
Judge Edward – whom I have met on several occasions – got in first and asked me how things were going. He looked despondent on learning that only 17% of foreign lecturers in Italy have obtained anything like a remedy.
I accompanied Hugh to Waverley station in Edinburgh where he had promised me a coffee – no time – I said – your train leaves in 10 minutes … but he sends his warm wishes to Vicky, the two French ladies, Sue and the lettori he met in Turin, Brussels and Strasbourg.
“Magnificent? No, eternal”, writes the Italian weekly Panorama (24.4.10) on Professor Giovanni Cannata, the Magnificent Rector of the University of Molise – or more modestly termed vice-chancellor in English. http://rassegnastampa.unipi.it/rassegna/archivio/2010/04/16SIR5044.PDF
Il Magnifico Rettore; Universita' degli Studi di Molise
He’s held the office for 15 years and wants another three, the longest serving Magnifico in the history of Italy.
He’ll certainly have read Machiavelli’s Prince, says Panorama noting that he has filled the university with his favourites, in many cases relatives.
His adviser, Valerio Barbieri, a former petrol pump attendant, after quickly graduating in economics became a top manager, hired his wife, the wife’s brother, the brother’s wife, the wife of the brother of the wife down to the cousins … creating also 300 places for contract professors from every walk of life, lawyers, journalists, politicians, judges as well as an ex-footballer from the local team.
Valerio Barbieri
Between 2000 and 2008 full professors increased by 153% while associate professors rose by 186%. Meanwhile the student population has risen by merely 19% while 16% drop out in their first year and only 14% graduate on time.
I wonder how all this sits with the much vaunted Bologna process aimed at standardising degrees and practices within Europe.
“For nearly thirty years, foreign lecturers have been fighting against discrimination in Italian universities. Telegraph Expat meets David Petrie, the British expat who has made it his mission to lead the campaign.”
By Leah Hyslop, The Daily Telegraph 27.9.10
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/expateducation/8019816/The-expat-who-took-on-Italy.html
Challenge to British Universities as Vice-Chancellors asked: Are your British degrees worth less than Italian degrees?
Fifty-nine year old British chairman of ALLSI, the Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy, David Petrie, who teaches at the University of Verona has written (30 September 2010) to the Principals and Vice-Chancellors (note 1) of five universities – Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oxford and Reading – seeking parity of treatment for British graduates teaching in Italian universities who are denied access to promoted posts in Italian universities.
David Petrie said today, “When graduates from British universities apply for promoted posts in Italian universities their applications are still being blocked – it’s simply not a level playing field. As well as ignoring judgments of the European Court of Justice, the practice of favouring Italian graduates over British graduates, flies in the face of the so-called Bologna Process (note 2). We would like to know if the Vice-Chancellors in those five British universities exclude Italian graduates from recruitment procedures in the same way that graduates from Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oxford and Reading are excluded.
“After 15 years of litigation on this specific point – access to jobs – the European Commission informs us in a letter dated 18 August 2010 that any possible difficulty we have in the ‘application’ of Italian recruitment laws is now ‘a matter of internal competence’. If this is an example of ‘subsidiarity’ in the EU – then I m afraid it’s like trusting the foxes to look after the chickens.”
Petrie will be meeting with UK Minister for Europe in David Liddington MP, in London on 28 October 2010./ENDS
David Petrie, 3 October 2010
INFORMATION and PHOTOS: David Petrie +39 347 4297324
BACKROUND for NEWS EDITORS
For 25 years non-Italian teachers working in Italian universities have been locked in a legal battle for parity of treatment, increments for years of service, social security and pension rights and access to employment under EU single market rules. The European Court of Justice has ruled in their favour a record six times.
On this specific issue, access to jobs: In 1995 Petrie, a Dundee graduate applied for a promoted post at the University of Verona, as did two Oxford graduates. Their applications were deemed inadmissible by Verona University faculty board. They challenged this decision in the European Court of Justice, which, on 20 November 1997, ruled on the principles which were to be applied in order to uphold EU rules that prohibit discrimination based on nationality. A Venice Regional Court examined the factual background and applied the ECJ principles in favour of the 3 British graduates on 14 January 1999. The University of Verona failed in its appeal. Despite these rulings the University of Verona continued to block applications for teaching posts – a regional court ruled again in Petrie’s favour 26 March 2003. Throughout Italy non-Italian teachers applied for promoted posts in the universities where they work, only to find their applications rejected as inadmissible.
Under pressure from the European Commission the Italian government, on 8 July 2008, issued a Ministerial decree to all Italian state universities clarifying that non-Italians could apply for promoted posts in the universities where they work. But this decree, which lacks the full force of law, conflicts with Italian law 63 of 2006, which prohibits categories of non-Italians from carrying out “any teaching duties”.
On 8 September 2009 lawyers acting for ALLSI wrote to the European Commission complaining that many universities (including Cassino, Cagliari, Ferrara, Florence, Genova, Messina, Palermo, Perugia, Udine and Urbino) were still advertising posts which excluded the non-Italian teaching staff from recruitment procedures.
The European Commission, in its letter dated 18 August 2010 considers that any interpretation of the conflict between these regulations is a matter for the Italian authorities.
NOTES 1 and 2
(1) University of Dundee Principal – Prof. Pete Downes ; University of Edinburgh – Principal Prof. Timothy O’Shea; University of Glasgow – Principal Prof. Anton Muscatelli; University of Oxford – Vice-Chancellor Prof. Andrew Hamilton; University of Reading – Vice Chancellor Gordon Marshall.
(2) The Bologna Process was established in Bologna, Italy in June 1999 when Education Ministers from 29 countries signed the Bologna Declaration. From the Official Website of the Bologna Process: The main international legal text that aims to further the fair recognition of qualifications is the Council of Europe/UNESCO Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (Lisbon Recognition Convention). Like any legal text, the Convention must be put into practice. The recognition of qualifications falls within the competence of each country. In most cases, this means that higher education institutions are responsible for the recognition of qualifications for the purpose of further study whereas professional bodies or employers are responsible for recognition for the purposes of the labour market. http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/
Discrimination Based On Nationality in violation of EU law
In a judgment of the Consiglio di Stato (Italy’s supreme court for administrative matters), three British lecturers David Petrie, Robert Hill and David Newbold have each been awarded €6,000 in damages + interest +€5,000 legal costs arising from being refused them access to compete for promoted posts in the University of Verona, where Petrie still works. BACKGROUND In 1995 Petrie, a graduate of University of Dundee and Hill and Newbold, both University of Oxford graduates, applied for a temporary promoted post, for teaching English language in the faculty where all three were employed. The University of Verona excluded their application (and other applications, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2000) from selection procedures on the grounds that the 3 British graduates did not have the prerequisite qualifications. A Venice Administrative Tribunal on 12 April 1999, following guidance from the European Court of Justice (21 November 1997 Petrie, C-90/96) held this to be violation of Art. 5 of the EU Treaty which prohibits discrimination based on nationality. However, the Venice Regional Tribunal rejected their claim for damages arising from their illegal exclusion on the grounds that damage was unproven. The Consiglio di Stato (Italy’s Supreme Court for administrative matters) has now overturned that decision in its judgment deposited on 24 September 2010.
David Petrie who chairs the Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy said today “Delighted as I am with this judgment – it is always welcome to see a principle established – it nevertheless raises a few questions. How come it takes 15 years to get any compensation? And can the damage be undone? What kind of people are sitting on faculty boards in Italian Universities, where repeated violation in open contempt of a binding judgement of the European Court of Justice is widespread?
“Our lawyers recently provided the European Commission with information showing that the Universities of Cagliari, Cassino, Ferrara, Florence, Genova, Messina, Palermo, Perugia, Siena, Urbino and Udine continue to advertise posts in a way that would exclude non-Italian applicants with qualifications obtained in their home countries. So what does that tell you about the swaggering barons in Italian universities? Where does this leave the so-called Bologna Process? It is a process systematically and institutionally thwarted in the country whose city bears its name.
“It’s a sham, a convenient, cynical mask on the thirty years of illegal discrimination based on nationality. In the foreign lecturers lettori cases, the Italian Republic is peerless among its European Union partners. It has been found to be illegitimately discriminating on the grounds of nationality a record 7 times in the European Court of Justice.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL DAVID PETRIE + 39 347 4297324
FOR A COPY OF THE RULING, EMAIL petried at sis.it
Mark LAZAROWICZ MP for Edinburgh North & Leith – Joins the Fight for Justice for British Lecturers in Italy -
David Petrie, chairman of the Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy has secured the support of his local MP, MARK LAZAROWICZ, Edinburgh North & Leith in his long battle for equality of treatment for British lecturers working in Italian universities.
The two met on 26 October, at the House of Commons in London.
David Petrie said, “I am delighted to say that he lost no time in telling me he would be contacting Mr Lidington, UK Minister for Europe – this, coming on the eve of our meeting with UK Minister David Lidington MP is a welcome boost to our campaign for equal treatment.”
Mr Lazarowicz who has tabled an Early Day Motion said today “ The treatment of my constituent David Petrie and his colleagues has been outrageous. The dossier of individual experiences which he and his association have put together highlights the trauma that many of the lecturers have had to experience over so many years. They have been waiting far too long for justice.”
The text of the Early Day Motion, 27 October 2010: http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=41889&SESSION=905
“This injustice has continued for far too long, it is both morally wrong and contrary to the spirit of European co-operation that the lettori should still be denied rights. I shall press the Italian government to see justice is done”
David Lidington MP, UK Minister for Europe 28 October 2010
British Lecturers in Italy met UK Minister for Europe, David Lidington MP – 28 October 14.00, London, Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
David Petrie, chair of the Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy, accompanied by Victoria Primhak. Ph D presented Minister David Lidington MP with 33 photographs and 33 files of British lecturers working in Italian universities who are suffering longstanding discrimination and abuse on account of their nationality.
They presented a letter (below) to Minister Lidington plus a dossier called “Every Picture Tells a Story” showing pictures and statements from 33 British lecturers from, who are constantly forced to court again and again to obtain their wages. Some have died without ever having enjoyed their full pensions. Others have been sacked and reinstated by the courts up to 5 times.
__________________________________________
Dear Minister Lidington,
We hope you will find the following dossier of 33 photos and 33 statements of British lecturers working in Italian universities useful even if it makes distressing reading.
Every picture tells a story – the story is one of widespread ongoing mass discrimination based on nationality, despite seven judgments of the European Court of Justice.
John Young’s statement pages 1-2 was first published in the Times Higher Education, on 14 January 2010 and provides an excellent summary of the situation.
On page 4 we cite the late Mrs Katherine Wells in her letter to the European Commission in which she feared she would never receive redress and that others would suffer the same fate.
Mrs Linda Ogden, p.6, tells of being sacked and reinstated (by the courts) at the University of Bologna 5 times. Sadly, she is not an exceptional case: others suffered similar abuse, some claim that the stress contributed to premature deaths of their colleagues.
Others report of their British degrees being treated as inferior to Italian degrees.
The one recurring theme, however, is that you have to sue and sue again to have your wages paid and pension contributions updated.
In fairness, and for balance we have included a file, p.33, Judith Evans from Bergamo – where that university is making an effort to implement judgments of the courts. We welcome this effort to uphold the rule of law.
Similarly, we applaud the University of Palermo in Sicily, (see Rachel Garnett, p. 34) for not only paying its non-Italian lecturers arrears on wages but also unilaterally continuing to pay their salaries and pension contributions thereby rendering it unnecessary for those colleagues to continuously sue for their wages and pension.
We trust you will give this matter the attention it merits and we thank you very much for agreeing to meet us today.
Yours sincerely,
David Petrie
Dr Victoria Primhak
London, 28 October 2010
Our thanks to Valerie Vaz MP (below) for the question in the House of Commons and to UK Minister for Europe David Lidington MP for his reply.
University Teaching: Italy
TEXT:
20. Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs What the outcome was of his recent meeting with the president of the Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy on the rights of UK citizens teaching in universities in Italy; and if he will make a statement. [22546]
Mr Lidington: I met the President of the Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy, Professor Petrie, on 28 October. I said that I would raise the issue with the Italian Minister for European Affairs, the Italian ambassador to the UK and the European Commissioner for Employment. Our British embassy in Rome will also meet members of the association and Italian Government officials.
It is wrong and contrary to the spirit of non-discrimination in the single market that the “lettori” should still be denied their rights. I shall continue to press the Italian Government on this issue.
LINK:
Letter – No end in sight to education ‘scandal’ – European Voice
In 1998 the Wall Street Journal reported the lettori case as an economics story striking at the heart of Europe’s much vaunted single-market.
It has taken a long time for this message to get through – but if workers from one EU country cannot move to another EU country and enjoy equal treatment then the single market is simply not a single market. Those who govern us are making political proclamations which sound good, look good and cost nothing – except of course to those citizens unfortunate or foolish enough to be caught between the rhetoric and the reality.
In the Financial Times, commenting on a dispute concerning Italian refinery workers in the UK, Italy’s much respected chairman of Confindustria, Emma Marcegaglia warned of the danger of “each country folding in on itself and forgetting the freedoms of the single market” (Britain must not go wobbly on the free market February 10, 2009)
We pointed out that “Italy provides the best example of legally proven mass discrimination based on nationality in the history of the European Union”, (Financial Times February 12, 2009, Italy has a history of discrimination).
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/04b83350-f8a6-11dd-aae8-000077b07658.html#axzz19gUAwitJ
We suggested that 2010 could be a breakthrough year for foreign lettori suffering illegal discrimination, when the then UK Europe Minister Chris Bryant MP agreed to meet us and William Hague MP pledged his support:
Indeed, in 2010, we found unprecedented interest from politicians and the press with the Times Higher Education Supplement writing – UK Politicians Join fight to end Italian ‘inequities’ -24 January 2010.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=409979§ioncode=26
Although the Italian legal system is lamentably slow the bill for infringing peoples’ rights and not paying them their just wages eventually arrives.
The Guardian, 30 January 2010 wrote “British lecturers in Italy win better pay after court ruling – Minister asked to back campaign after seven lecturers awarded £300,000 in back pay at Padua University -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/31/british-lecturers-italy-pay
which was also picked up by Turin based Italian broadsheet La Stampa
In the UK Parliament Mark Lazarowicz MP joined the campaign
http://www.marklazarowicz.org.uk/fair-treatment-for-uk-staff-in-italian-universities—mark-backs
tabling an early day motion in the House of Commons which attracted 35 signatures
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=41889&SESSION=905
while Valerie Vaz MP tabled a motion attracting 22 signatures
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=41873&SESSION=905
The Daily Telegraph reported on 27 September 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/expateducation/8019816/The-expat-who-took-on-Italy.html
The Italian Supreme Court for Administrative Matters awarded three British graduates damages for having been blocked from applying for teaching posts. Although this took 15 years of wrangled in courts from Venice to the ECJ in Luxembourg to Venice again and then to Rome – it confirmed that protectionist universities unfairly offering posts to their own graduates could expect to be forced to pay compensation.
The Press Association and The Independent, among others reported on this -
British Lecturers win damages over promotion block, 8 October 2010 -
UK minister David Lidington told us on 28 October 2010 “This injustice has continued for far too long, it is both morally wrong and contrary to the spirit of European co-operation that the lettori should still be denied rights. I shall press the Italian government to see justice is done”
In one of its three articles this year on lettori Italian Nanni Magazine reported on the UK government’s concern
European Voice published- Fighting Italy’s Class war, 2 December 2010 -
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/fighting-italy-s-class-war/69620.aspx
as well as letters challenging the Council of Ministers to take action.
The Financial Times, 10 December 2011 published a letter from a University of Milan lecturer in English on systematic flouting of EU law – Irony of accord named after Bologna -
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c81a4388-03e9-11e0-8dd2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz19gcCUG4q
and another from Bologna University based lecturer in French – Nothing more than an expensive talking shop
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4af9021e-03e8-11e0-8dd2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz19gcU9WrR
and again on 17 December the Financial Times carried a letter by German lecturer Michael Schlicht “Harmonisation overdue in Italy” … supporting Angela Merkel’s call for harmonisation in labour law
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/355b2e9a-096b-11e0-8c68-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1AR9YE9Ry
On 23 December 2010 the Italian Senate approved of a reform of the Italian University system (the Gelmini reform) which contained a clause (Art.26) concerning “lettori”.
We feared that this Article, which interferes with court cases pending in Italy, would thwart the effects of judgments of the European Court of Justice thereby challenging its position as sole and supreme authority on matters concerning the interpretation of the EU Treaty.
On 30 December 2011 La Repubblica reported that while Italian President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, signed the Gelmini reform he expressed doubts on Article 26 – suggesting that it should be re-examined by the government since it may conflict with the case law of the Italian constitutional court.
http://www.repubblica.it/scuola/2010/12/30/news/napolitano_universit-10718988/
With the recession, 2011 threatens to be difficult for all governments. It remains to be seen whether, as Emma Marcegaglia put it, we will see “each country folding in on itself and forgetting the freedoms of the single market” or UE Ministers will be strong enough vigorously defend Europe and the Treaty.
Here is my speech delivered to the European Parliament Petitions Committee on 25 January 2011:
Madam Chairman, honourable members, thank you very much for this opportunity.
For almost 20 years Italy has been discriminating against its non-Italian teaching staff – lettori – discrimination based on nationality, with regard to access to jobs, duration of contract, equal pay and pension rights. The European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of the lettori 6 times.
Now, we all know that prior to the outbreak of the Second World War certain European governments introduced legislation which specifically targeted certain categories of people removing their full civil rights – rendering them aliens or, shall we say, at least not full legal persons who enjoyed the same rights as full citizens.
From the first signing of the Treaties – in Rome in 1957 up till Lisbon – many signatories/governments – some more than others – infringed the Treaties which they signed up to.
However, I know of no signatory/government which has legislated – legislated – against the Treaties and against the authority of the European Court of Justice.
Some of you may imagine that the very idea is unthinkable – in reality it is less than 100 hours away.
On Saturday of this week – 29 January 2011 – an Italian law “the Gelmini reform” comes into force, stripping myself and my colleagues, non-Italian lecturers working in Italian universities, of basic civil rights.
As of Saturday – the right to equal treatment – gone;
the inviolable right of defence – gone;
the right to due process of law – gone;
the right to a decision from a judge on the merits of a legal claim – gone.
Gone – cancelled by Article 26 of “the Gelmini law”.
The President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, although he signed the law, did flag up article 26 – saying to the government that it needs to be looked at again. I should say so.
What the Romans would never have done – an Italian government has done.
So, how did we get to this point and why – why in particular has the Italian state brought in such drastic measures.
Answer: For 20 odd-years, universities all over Italy, bankrolled by their paymaster the Italian state, have been wasting millions on law suits rather than paying foreigners the same wages as Italians.
The Italian authorities have not unilaterally implemented the ECJ decisions – consequently there are hundreds of court cases pending – but despite Italy’s gruesomely slow legal system – the chickens are coming home to roost.
The University of Padua, for example, has been ordered to pay €5 million in damages for years of unpaid arrears in wages to 14 lettori – the universities fear that in the future they will be forced to pay equal wages for equal work. So, universities are saying “we’re bust – we can’t pay” and the state is saying “we won’t pay”. Can’t pay/won’t pay.
The Berlusconi government’s “solution” is – is to “extinguish” lettori law suits – because that is literally what Article 26 states, it “extinguishes” all pending court cases - thereby legislating against judgments of the ECJ and legislating against the EU Treaty – and stripping us of full citizens rights.
Yesterday, our lawyers wrote to the Commission asking for infringement proceedings.
We ask the Committee – to seek the speedy intervention of the European Commission; to bring the matter to the attention of the Council of Ministers to ask the Parliament’s legal affairs committee to commission its own report on this complaint and, given the seriousness of the complaint, to make a public statement to the media.
We request that this petition remains open until the fundamental legal rights of these non-Italian citizens are fully re-established in the Republic of Italy.
Thank you.
Lamenting the erosion of the rule of law in Italy, a European Voice editorial (3 February 2011) highlights Italy’s recent reform concerning its non-Italian tecahing staff (lettori) as “a particularly flagrant breach of EU law”.
The editorial chose the occasion of a memorial service at Milan’s Bocconi University for the late Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, (one of Italy’s most respected politicians in Europe), to reflect on the declining standards of Italian politicians and how this is weakening the EU at a time when the Mediterranean is in turmoil.
The “Gelmini” law which came into force on 29 January 2011 “extinguishes” legal rights of lettori.
Article 26 denys them – in their quest for fair treatment, equal pay and pensions – access to a judged decision on the merits of their claims in Italian courts.
Most of the foreign lecturers are nearing retirement age and some have died without ever having enjoyed full and proper pension rights.
See link European Voice : Erosion of Italy’s European tradition is a crying shame
The foreign lecturers’ campaign for equal pay, equal pensions and equal treatment received a boost when the law came under fire from the chair of the European Parliament‘s Petitions Committee, Ms Erminia Mazzoni – a key member of Mr Berlusconi‘s Il Popolo della Libertà party – who on 25 January 2011 told the Parliament that the foreign language lecturers (lettori) case “had gone on for far too long”.
Ermina Mazzoni MEP
“It gives us food for thought” she said, describing the case as “undoubtedly extreme” and called upon the Italian authorities to explain how in “real day to day terms they intend to tackle an existing problem” adding that the European Parliament “should call upon them to ensure that they shoulder their responsibility once and for all”.
Article 26 of the Gelmini law – see English translation & original text Trans. Gelmini Art 26 p.3 re-interprets judgments of the European Court of Justice – which has the sole and supreme right to interpret EU law, while the member state is tasked with the implementation of those judgments.
The ECJ ruled that the lettori contracts must be one single open-ended relationship – since that is the rule for Italian workers. Article 26 splits the relationship into two denying rights established and ruled upon by the European Court of Justice in 2001 and 2006.
A judge in Pavia, on 1 February 2011, refused to apply the law and awarded a French citizen her full rights under EU law as interpreted by the ECJ.
Mr Berlusconi, in his numerous trials, has constantly complained that he is a victim of a politicised judiciary.
Article 26 seems to be the reverse – in which the government is attempting to thwart the rule of law, breach the Italian constitution, the Lisbon Treaty and the plain common sense of centuries of our legal tradition – that all citizens have a right to have their complaint judged by an independent magistrate in a court of law.
Italy’s president Giorgio Napolitano promulgated the law on 30 December 2011 but only after adding a “critical comment” on Article 26.
His reservations need to be acted upon and soon.
Even in these times of budgetary constraint – it is not beyond the means or the wit of the Italian government to do the right thing and win back some confidence from its EU partners.
For a history of Italy’s denial of equal treatment, see link: A long fight for justice:
http://davidpetrie.wordpress.com/a-long-fight-for-justice/
David Petrie, Verona 6 February 2011
Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy
via S Vitale 7 VERONA
+39 347 4297324
PRESS RELEASE – NEWS DESKS
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT MP DAN ROGERSON TELLS WILLIAM HAGUE TO GET TOUGH ON EUROPE and CALLS FOR A DEBATE IN THE HOUSE of COMMONS.
On the Berlusconi government’s recent denial of legal rights of British citizens in Italy Dan Rogerson MP wrote to William Hague saying -
“In any other member state of the EU this would not be the case, and should not be tolerated by this Coalition Government”
In a letter dated 9 February 2011 Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall Dan Rogerson wrote to UK Foreign Secretary William Hague urging a debate in the House of Commons to “demonstrate that the Government takes Italy’s flouting of EU regulations, and the threat to the equality of British citizens in Italy, extremely seriously.” (letter attached)
BACKGROUND: In a speech to the European Parliament (see link to video http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=2uCLLx_GCXA&feature=related ) on 25 January 2011 David Petrie, chair of ALLSI – the Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy - told how a Berlusconi law which came into force on 29 January 2011 “extinguishes” pending law suits of EU citizens. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled a record six times in favour of foreign lecturers “lettori” in Italian universities finding illegitimate discrimination on the grounds of nationality with regard to access to jobs, increments for years of service and equal pay and pensions. The principles of EU law are ruled upon by the Luxembourg based ECJ – while the member states are tasked with implementation. Faced with huge bills for arrears on wages to the lettori the Berlusconi government in Article 26 of law 240 of 2010 re-interprets the judgments of the ECJ to the detriment of the lettori and blocks them from having their claims adjudicated by an independent magistrate, a fundamental aspect of the rule of law.
The lecturers – the largest group being British – have taken their complaint to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office receiving support from Europe Minister David Lidington and his predecessor Chris Bryant.
Mr Rogerson is one of over 40 MPs who signed motions for Early Morning Debate proposed by Mark Lazarowicz MP and Valerie Vaz MP in the House of Commons expressing their grave concern.
Mr Rogerson (http://www.danrogerson.org/) wrote to ALLSI chair David Petrie saying “There would be outrage if we made such a law in the United Kingdom, and there should be similar outrage here”.
David Petrie said “Mr Rogerson has understood the wider significance of the complaint” recently the UK Parliament was aghast at interference in its sovereignty from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, concerning prisoners having the right to vote – and the UK being faced with costly compensation claims. Our Justice Minister Kenneth Clarke, told the press this weekend ‘I do not contemplate either government or Parliament suddenly deciding it’s not bound by the rule of law… you can’t do it’.
Italy has just done it. Its legislation strikes at the core of the European project – if Berlusconi can cock a snook at the ECJ – legislating against its decisions, sweeping away core principles of justice going back to Roman law – then other member states will get the message and they too will cherry pick on which regulations to obey and which regulations to flout. It would be the end of the rule of law as Mr Clarke rightly suggests – but only if we remain in Europe. Those politicians, in UKIP and other parties, who would take the United Kingdom out the EU, have the merit of being unambiguous. Those in favour of maintaining the rule of law inside the EU framework need to show us, unambiguously that it can be done.
Verona, 15 February 2011
ENDS
ATTACHED – Letter Dan Rogerson to William Hague ROGERSON HAGUE059
NOTE to NEWS EDITORS – the European Voice Editorial of 3 February 2011 – highlights this case in the penultimate paragraph, case recently reported on by the PA, The Independent and The Daily Telegraph.
SEE LINKS to RECENT ARTICLES
European Voice Editorial http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/erosion-of-italy-s-european-tradition-is-a-crying-shame/70121.aspx
Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/expateducation/8283852/Expat-implores-EU-to-help-foreign-lecturers-in-Italy.html
The Independent Anger at Italy foreign staff rights
David Petrie – speech to the European Parliament, 25 January 2011 http://davidpetrie.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/berlusconi-government-goes-where-romans-would-never-dare/
ALSO AVAILABLE – copy of Article 26 of Italian law 240 of 2010 with English translation & analysis Professor Avv. Lorenzo Picotti’s letter to the European Commission
CONTACTS DAVID PETRIE tel +39 347 4297324
http://davidpetrie.wordpress.com/
We are most grateful to Conservative MP for East Hampshire Mr Damian Hinds, who serves on the UK Parliamentary Education Committee, for continuing to seek guarantees from the government on its commitment to ensuring equal treatment and the application of European Court of Justice rulings in Italy.
Damian Hinds MP
See Minister Lidington’s reply to Mr Hinds dated 26 February 2011 Hinds – Lidington
His letter refers to article 26 of Italian law 240 which “extinguishes” pending legal cases of lettori in Italy. There was a huge furore in the UK parliament over what some see excessive interference from European Courts. The UK government pledges to uphold its Treaty obligations – it should be equally vigilant in seeing that Italy does the same. Under EU law the European Court of Justice rules on principles of law and leaves the member states to implement. Far from doing so – the Berlusconi government has legislated in order to prevent, rather than implement, the application of the ECJ rulings. Unprecedented in the history of the EU. A very dangerous precedent for the future of the European Union.
Linked is an academic article published in the Italian Bulletin of Politics, Glasgow University, vol. 2 no. 2 of 2010. Prof Brad Blitz Italian Bulletin of Politics vol 2 2010
Brad Blitz, Professor of Human and Political Geography, Kingston University, London
Mr J Campbell from Bedford writes:
It’s an account of a group of outsiders who over a period of time have their quality of life reduced by an accumulation of ‘adjustments’ to their conditions of employment, some blatant some insidious, some grievous some petty, some cleverly calculating some silly. This is how persecuted minorities are treated I suppose. The perpetrators must hate and fear you all.
There is a suggestion of guilt and embarrassment. If only you would all keep out of sight, enter and leave invisibly. A desire to humiliate. And a degree of vindictiveness. Fascinating. These are not nice people. Weak and petty. Step into them!
Dan Rogerson MP
TWO ITALIAN judges trying separate cases – one in Naples and one in Pavia – have refused to apply the new Gelmini law, which extinguishes all claims for compensation and back pay made by lettori – foreign university lecturers denied the same employment rights as their Italian colleagues (see the April 2011 Gazette). These early February rulings immediately followed the Gelmini law being approved by Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, who formally registered his reservations over one of its clauses while doing so. David Petrie, who represents the lettori claimants, told the Gazette that around a third of the lettori were EFL lecturers, some of whom have retired. Various dubious laws dating back to 1980 redefined these foreign lecturers as collaboratori, or lower grade-non-teaching staff. Petrie said political pressure on Italy over the lettori issue was increasing. German Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) led by Peter Jahr have recently given their support to calls for action from British MEPs. UK minister for Europe David Lidington has asked for a meeting with his Italian counterpart on the EU’s Council of Ministers, while Dan Rogerson, an MP in the UK (Westminster) parliament, has written to foreign secretary William Hague calling for a debate. As we went to press, the lettoris’ lawyers were anticipating an imminent response from the European Commission to their request to start infringement proceedings against Italy’s government for breaching their clients’ rights under European law.
LINK
http://mag.digitalpc.co.uk/Olive/ODE/ELGAZETTE/
Today, The Herald published a very helpful letter by Ken Waddell, President of the Glasgow Bar Association, and others under the headline ‘Appeals to a supreme court are a constitutional right‘.
‘The Scotland Act’, Mr Waddell, points out, ‘limits the powers of Scottish ministers and indeed the Parliament in two important respects. They are not able to enact or pass legislation, which is contrary to the rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights or European Community law‘.
Beneath his letter, is my own showing how Italian ministers and the Italian parliament enacted Art 26 of law 240/2010 and did just that. (http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/herald-letters/appeals-to-supreme-court-are-a-constitutional-right-1.1105870)
Italian parliamentarians debated law 240/2010, known as ‘the Gelmini reform’ in both chambers and they voted in favour of it, before the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano signed it into law (albeit only after adding a ‘critical note’).
It would be unthinkable for a government led by Angela Merkel or Nicolas Sarkozy or David Cameron or Alex Salmond to propose laws ‘extinguishing’ the legal rights of citizens, as this Italian law does, because parliaments in Germany, France and the UK are presumed not to legislate contrary the European Treaties.
On 8 April 2011, judge Silvana Cirvelleri, sitting in a Turin court, citied Art 26 of law 240/2010 – and declared the proceedings, in a foreign lecturer’s case, ‘extinguished’ (estinto) – a double whammy – flouting both the European Convention on Human Rights and The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Italian parliamentarians debated this legislation in both chambers, and they voted in favour of it before the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano signed it into law (albeit only after adding a ‘critical note’).
Since this law specifically targets ‘lettori’ (people teaching in their mother tongue) it affects citizens from the UK, Spain, France, Germany and other EU countries.
Put plainly – this is one member state barring citizens from all other member states the right to have their legal claims adjudicated in a court of law.
This is not Europe. This fractures everything Europeans feel proud of. This is a serious challenge to democracy, the rule of law and the very survival of the entire European Project.
There should be a mighty row.
The Times Higher Education published, 16-22 June, ‘Pioneers of the new Europe’ fight the Italian closed shop , while UK Europe Minister, David Lidington heads for Rome this week – See Mark Lazarowicz’s question in the House of Commons:
Mark Lazarowicz MP
HANSARD 14 June 2011
T3. [59298] Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op): The Secretary of State will be aware of the case of my constituent, David Petrie, who is one of a number of British citizens who, for more than 20 years, have been trying to secure equal pay under their European rights in Italy. I understand that the Minister for Europe will meet his Italian counterparts in a few days’ time. Will he take up this case again and try to bring the sorry saga to a conclusion?
The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington): Yes, I intend to visit Italy in the next week and this is certainly one of the items that will be on the agenda for discussion.
I am very grateful to Mr Lazarowicz who issued the following statement:
‘It is an outrage that in spite of numerous court rulings, the Italian authorities have not yet complied. I know that both the current and previous UK governments have been pursuing the issue with the Italian government, and they must continue to do so until there is a satisfactory outcome’.
At our meeting in London on 28 October 2010, Mr Lidington assured us the government was taking our case very seriously. But since then, the Italian government has gone much further down the road than simply flouting the treaties. The “Gelmini” reform legislates against ECJ judgments (it re-interprets their rulings) and against the European Treaties (it extinguishes the basic right of a specific group of foreign workers to have their complaint adjudicated in a court of law).
This is certainly not a matter merely affecting Italy – it calls into question the whole European Project.
Fearful that lettori may still yet enforce their rights, as some have, even after over 25 years in courts (shouldn’t they have given up or died?) – the Gelmini reform has simply taken their treaty rights away.
The Romans gave full citizens rights to anyone who served the empire for ten years. Can our EU leaders force Italy to comply – or should we be calling for them to bring back the Romans?
The Italian Insider reported on this week’s meeting between UK Minister for Europe and Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. http://www.italianinsider.it/?q=node/326
I am pleased to hear that Mr Frattini has promised to look into the lettori question. Mr Frattini was European Commissioner for Italy from November 2004, taking office shortly after the Commission launched infringement proceedings in the 5th lettori case to be heard in the European Court of Justice; too late for Mr Frattini’s intervention but it is encouraging that he has accepted Mr Lidington’s invitation to intervene now.
La Repubblica reported on David Lidington’s busy schedule and cites Italian Minister for Trade Catia Polidori.
Catia Polidori Italian Minister for Trade
She said she was in full agreement with Mr Lidington on the role of international trade as the indispensable element for economic recovery. She stressed the need for the reduction, and if possible elimination, of barriers to trade while emphasising the need to protect her country’s Made in Italy brand. “In short”, she said: “more market, better rules.”
Fine, absolutely fine – infringement of single market rules are always to be deplored, particularly so when these rules have been judicially decided upon by the EU’s supreme court, the European Court of Justice – as is the case of the lettori.
“Better rules”, perhaps, but above all Europe needs better application of existing rules.
I feel sure she will take this point. We would certainly welcome her support.
Link to La Repubblica
http://finanza.repubblica.it/News_Dettaglio.aspx?code=706&dt=2011-06-23&src=TLB
In 1997, the Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy (allsi – Associazione Lettori di Lingua Straniera in Italia) along with British lecturer John Young, brought an action against the Italian Ministry of Higher Education (Ministero per l’Università e per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica) and the University of Milan.
John Young and David Petrie in the European Court of Justice
A Ministerial Decree, dated 23 August 1997, excluded Mr Young, who teaches at the University of Milan, and other non-Italian lecturers (lettori) from voting in elections for the National University Councils (Consiglio Universitario Nazionale CUN) .
Three judges in the Lazio Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio) decided on 2 March 2011(case published 15 June 2011) that the ministerial decree had to be annulled as it contrasts with the EU principle of non-discrimination based on nationality and the principle of free movement of workers – as well as the parameters of reasonableness and the principles of the Italian constitution.
The decree was promulgated by the first Prodi government -May 1996 -1998.
Although we are happy with the final outcome – we did ask, in 1997, for an emergency injunction to have the decree suspended so that non-Italian workers as well as Italian workers could participate in democratic elections in the place of work. The injunction was refused.
We formed our own trade union (allsi) when it was obvious that the Italian trade unions were as protectionist as the Italian state.
14 years is rather a long time to wait for court judgment, justice deferred is justice denied.
Under the European Convention on Human Rights, we will now be asking our lawyers to raise a further action – for this case – and every other case which fails to be adjudicated within a period of 5 years.
Valerie Vaz MP raised the issue of the ongoing discrimination against lecturers in Italy – reported in Hansard 4 July 2011 and below.
My thanks to Ms Vaz and UK Minister for Europe, David Lidington for his continuing support and robust response.
David Lidington MP - UK Minister for Europe
Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions his Department has had with its Italian counterpart on the rights of UK citizens teaching in universities in Italy. [63256]
Mr Lidington: The Government continue to take their duty to uphold the principles central to the EU single market very seriously. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), raised this issue with Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, in April. I also raised it with Franco Frattini my visit to Italy last month.
We continue to lobby the Italian Government hard on this issue, at ministerial level and through the British embassy, but the Government’s response to date has been that it is the responsibility of the Italian universities to seek a resolution. The Italian universities have said that they cannot resolve this issue without help from the Government.
We will continue to do all that we can to lobby the Italian Government to seek a resolution. While we are unable to get involved in Italian legal proceedings, we are nevertheless fully supportive of the British lecturers’ cause.
For those of you who like anniversaries this week, 13 July, marks the 16th anniversary of the European Parliament’s resolution on discriminatory treatment on the grounds of nationality for foreign language teachers (‘lettori’) at Verona University (Italy), in violation of Article 48 of the EEC Treaty.
Full text below -
This morning, three lecturers in English at Brescia University were in court to recover damages plus interest in unpaid wages. The Italian state advocate defending the University of Brescia failed to turn up. A judgment is expected on 29 September 2011.
Since there are hundreds of other court cases pending – and hundreds others in preparation – one way for the Italian state to reduce its massive public spending deficit would be to guarantee to pay foreign lecturers their wages (as they are guaranteed for Italians) rather wasting expensive court time over the next coming 16 years.
These lecturers and many others whose cases have not reached judgment within 5 years are automatically entitled to damages under Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
I can confirm that our lawyers have now deposited a case for damages under this legislation – myself and two other British lecturers are seeking damages of €20.809,23 each. Come autumn ALLSI will hold a national meeting to advise other lettori to do the same.
David Martin, Vice President of the European Parliament with lettori from Verona University - 1995
Our campaign for fair and equal treatment received a very welcome boost from the UK Prime Minister -
Rt. Hon David Cameron MP
David Cameron: “We will continue to track the case closely and do everything we can to resolve urgently a situation which flouts the core principles of the single market“.
Mr Cameron was responding to a complaint from his constituent Christopher Burchett, from Charlbury West Oxfordshire, who teaches at the State University of Milan. Since 1990, Mr Burchett along with scores of other non-Italian lecturers has constantly been forced to sue for arrears on unpaid wages. His net monthly salary is €1.100 (£960) - Italian lecturers with the same salary grade and increments as Mr Burchett (professore associato tempo definito) are automatically paid €2.208.34 (£1.927) per month. Mr Burchett wrote to Mr Cameron on 8 June 2011 saying that a recent reform, the Gelmini law, “extinguishes the lecturers’ right to seek redress in court … It represents an iniquitous assualt on a citizen’s freedom and if allowed to stand, sets a very ominous precedent, as access to the courts is fundamental to democracy“.
Our warm thanks to Mr Cameron and the UK government for its strong support and commitment to upholding the principle of equal and fair treatment – copy of letter – David Cameron letter 25 July 2011
