Foreign nationals owe 623 million. kr. in breach of the SU-debt to the Danish treasury. Over the recent years, debt has grown significantly. It is partly due to the Danish authorities find it difficult to claw the money into, when the foreign students have left the country.
Why would Gældsstyrelsen lead litigation against the debtors from other EU countries in order to get the money back in the box, writes dr.dk.
– If we get a judgment in Denmark, what we of course hope that we do, so we have the opportunity to send the requirements to the foreign authorities, which can make the recovery on our behalf. So if prøvesagerne goes well, we can proceed with the new cases, says Ulrik Pedersen for Danish Radio.
the EU-citizens ‘ non-performing SU-debt has increased from under 100 million. kr. in 2013 to 234 million. kr. in 2018.
But if you ask associate professor in international law at the UNIVERSITY Henning Fuglsang Sørensen, there are no guarantees that Gældsstyrelsen can convince the Danish courts, the EU regulation can be used for the purpose.
– I would not be surprised if Gældsstyrelsen got to go home with a lost cause. But now we need to see. It is the courts that must assess it here, says the lektoren.
however, It is far from the whole of the non-performing debts, which are occupied by EU citizens.
Figures from the Gældsstyrelsen shows that citizens from outside the EU account for more than half of the total defaulted amount for the foreign students. Former students from Somalia, Iraq, and Iran tops the list of debtors from non-EU countries. Together, owe the citizens from the three countries about 50 million. kr. in breach of the SU-debt.
According to Henning Fuglsang Sørensen, the state may well shoot a white arrow after the part of the debt which is not recorded by EU-citizens.
– part of the amounts we may as well write off, because the debtor has no money, or we do not know where the debtor lives. Another part of the debt, we would be forced to write off, because it is simply too small amounts to begin to hire lawyers around the world to run trials for us, he says, and adds:
– So we are in a situation where it only pays to go after the biggest debtors. There will be a big portion of the debt, we might as well give up.
Among borrowers from other EU countries owes the former students from Germany, Iceland and Sweden the most in breach of the SU-debt.
