Council of State voids three branch licenses

The Council of State voided three operating licenses for branches of non-state universities and three programme-certification decisions, in rulings 1167 to 1172 of 2026. The decisions were issued by the seven-member panel of the Third Section, chaired by D. Kyrillopoulos with E. Argyros as rapporteur, and were made public on Wednesday, August 13. The grounds for annulment are procedural rather than substantive: the court did not rule that such institutions are prohibited from operating, but that the specific administrative acts had been issued without meeting the conditions set by law. This distinction is crucial, as it leaves open the possibility of reissuing the licenses if the competent authorities follow the procedures the court found had been omitted.

Decisions 1167 and 1169 annulled acts of the Deputy Education Minister granting installation and operating licenses for branches of legal entities providing university-level education, on the grounds that EOPPEP had failed to verify compliance with observations on building adaptations following an on-site inspection. Decision 1171 annulled a license because the favourable opinion of HAHE was based on a report by a Special Evaluation Committee, one of whose members had a connection to the institution concerned, creating a suspicion of bias under Article 7 of the Code of Administrative Procedure. EOPPEP is the body that checks building and operational specifications, while HAHE is the independent authority that evaluates and certifies the quality of study programmes in higher education.

Decisions 1168, 1170 and 1172 annulled programme-certification decisions. The court ruled that the data in the Annex to HAHE decision No. 48136 of December 17, 2024 did not constitute the specific quantitative and qualitative criteria required by Law 5094/2024. At the same time, the Council of State reiterated the findings of Plenary decisions 1919 and 1920 of 2025, according to which the operation of branches of foreign universities from the European Union or under GATS is not constitutionally prohibited. The requirement for measurable criteria aims to ensure that every certification can be judicially reviewed, without the ruling depending on general and vague wording.

On Friday, August 14, statements from the parties involved continued. The Panhellenic Union of Recognised Colleges and the Plenary of Bar Association presidents issued statements offering different readings of the rulings. For its part, the Education Ministry stated that ‘the academic year will not be lost.’ The practical question that remains open concerns the standing of students already enrolled in the affected programmes and the process by which the licenses could be reissued, once the procedural defects are remedied. More on the Justice page.