Under pressure from these countries, the European authorities agreed in November to suspend the inclusion of foreign carriers in the scheme for one year.
The British Council's director of higher education, Pat Killingley, said the inclusion of the additional foreign students was good news for UK higher education.
It is likely that Italy's President Ciampi, who had pushed for Ruggiero's inclusion in the cabinet, will now pressure Berlusconi to appoint a new foreign minister much sooner than that.