Special report by the European Ombudsman following the complaint 1391/2002/JMA against the European schools

 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.