Open up French ski tuition to non-French ski schools

EU law says that equivalent qualifications should be recognised automatically unless there is a “substantial difference” in training in the host country and destination – in this case the UK and France. The British Association of Snowsport instructors (BASI) gives internationally recognised skiing qualifications, but to teach in France an extra “euro test” has to be passed. This test discriminates against non-French ski schools.

French instructors are allowed to teach without this top diploma, but British instructors cannot unless their school has ten fully French qualified test holders. This is a “non-tariff barrier,” designed to stop competition. The European Commission, the EU’s competition watchdog, should make sure this market is just as open to competition as the UK energy market is to French companies.

British ski companies have brought hundreds of thousands of euros to the local economies of French and other ski-resorts struggling through the recession. Europe’s economies need competition, not local protectionism, if they are to get back on their feet.