The Scottish government¡¯s plan to charge English students tuition fees in the event of independence would have no precedent in the European Union, according to the European Commissioner for education.

Responding to a question from Scottish Labour MEP David Martin, Androulla Vassiliou said that treating non-Scottish students differently could be considered ¡°a covert form of discrimination on grounds of nationality¡±, it has been reported.

But she did leave open the possibility of an independent Scotland being allowed to charge students from the rest of the UK ¨C if the country could justify the decision to the EU.

The Scottish National Party¡¯s position is that after independence, the country would be uniquely vulnerable to thousands of English students heading north of the border to take advantage of free higher education ¨C and squeezing Scots out of the country¡¯s universities ¨C and so imposing tuition fees would be essential.

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But the pro-union Better Together campaign said that her comments left the SNP¡¯s tuition fee plans ¡°dead in the water¡±.

Responding to Ms Vassiliou¡¯s comments, Mr Martin said: ¡°There is no viable reason why an independent Scotland would be able to charge students from certain countries fees, when other European member states cannot do this.

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¡°Were Scotland to become independent, one condition of EU membership is to respect the rules of the single market, including not discriminating amongst EU citizens for university fees,¡± he added.

david.matthews@tsleducation.com