From January 2024, foreign students can then apply for compensation. The Maastricht regulation “will be based on the DUO regulation,” the city writes.
Under the DUO regulation, students who (as per 1 October) had a living-away-from-home grant and an additional grant, receive a 400-euro allowance for energy bills over 2023. Students who used to have an additional grant and had a loan with DUO in October, will also receive the compensation. They do not need to apply for this themselves: anyone who is eligible, will automatically receive the amount at the beginning of 2024.
Court cases and criticism
The energy allowance for 2022 was arranged entirely by the municipalities. Initially, students were excluded from it, but after criticism and court cases, many municipalities – including Maastricht – came around in the end. The government set aside 35 million euro at the time to compensate students.
The city estimated that at the end of 2022, 1,500 students would be eligible for compensation. In June of this year, research by newspaper de Volkskrant showed that in Maastricht 639 applications had been received, 262 of which were granted. Inquiries by Observant to the city indicated that 256 of the applicants were international students, 142 of whom received compensation.
The only one
How many foreign students will be eligible this time and what the arrangement will cost the city, a spokesperson was unable to say at this stage: it depends on the criteria that will be applied. But she does expect there to be “little difference” between the Maastricht arrangement and DUO’s.
National Student Union LSVb maintains its earlier criticism that it is unfair that students receive less support than other people with low incomes. However, it is “of course good that the city of Maastricht is undertaking action for foreign students,” says a spokesperson. According to him, Maastricht is the only Dutch municipality to have announced such an arrangement.