Greece’s Council of State (CoS), the country’s highest administrative court, this week handed down a decision affirming a law requiring bank guarantees worth two million euros and a 600,000-euro application fee to open subsidiaries of foreign universities here.
Justices of a plenary session rejected appeals filed by nine private universities and the Association of Private Universities.
The pricey letters of guarantee and feed, which every private foreign university must submit in order to establish and operate a branch in Greece, are consistent with requirements of EU law and do not violate the provisions of the Union’s founding charter and other related directives, the CoS decision read.
At the same time, the amount of the guarantee is reduced by 50% if the application concerns a subsidiary that will be established outside Attica prefecture (the greater Athens-Piraeus area), the Thessaloniki regional unit and central Macedonia.
For each additional school beyond the first three, the fee increases by €200,000. The fee is also reduced by 50% if the application concerns a branch to be established outside the aforementioned area.
