The European Commission is to take the Netherlands to court over its insistence students spend at least three of the past six years in the Netherlands to qualify for financial help with studying abroad.

The commission says this residency rule goes against European rules on the free movement of goods and people. ‘Migrant workers and their families should enjoy the same social advantages as nationals,’ the commission said on Thursday. ‘Study financing awarded to students for maintenance is a social advantage which should be granted without discrimination.’
The Netherlands has refused to change the regulations because it says it wants to stop the student grant system being abused.