A new agreement which subsidises Norwegian medical students studying in Denmark, displacing Danes in a country which already facing a shortage of doctors and dentists, has created a political storm.

A leading Danish politician said a new agreement between the two countries was "completely idiotic" and "blatant exploitation".

Ole Vig Jensen, the Danish minister of education, signed the inter-Nordic agreement on access to higher education last month. Although Norway is not a member of the European Union, the new agreement means that Norwegians may study in Danish universities on an equal footing with EU undergraduates.

As a result, the 26 Norwegians who are initially studying medicine or dentistry this academic year are expected to increase to 310 in 1997/98. According to Eva Teilmann of Aarhus University, Denmark's problem is not new and the arrangement could cost several hundred million kroner during the coming years.

51³Ô¹Ï

The agreement puts the annual fee for an undergraduate at about DKr22,000 (Pounds 2,420), or about a third of the real cost.

This causes Mr Jensen to expect that fewer students will apply next year - more than 300 Norwegians applied under the scheme this year.

51³Ô¹Ï

One of the consequences is a higher grades requirement for Danish students.

This is unacceptable to Kresten Philipsen, chairman of Amtsradsforeningen (the Danish association of regional councils) whose members are responsible for hospitals.

He said: "I can't understand the minister signing this agreement if it leads to a lack of Danish doctors. If the universities' figures are correct, a third of the 850 undergraduates at medical schools will be Norwegians. To me it looks like a blatant exploitation by Norway of our study places." The annual cost of educating a medical undergraduate is at least DKr65,000, he said.