Brussels, 02/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - Despite a call from the European Commission and governments for the greater autonomy that is key to successful reform of higher education, universities remain largely governed by public authorities, although there has been some slight improvement in this area. That is the conclusion of a new study by the European University Association (EUA), “University Autonomy in Europe” which offers a comparative analysis of the extent of university autonomy from the point view of organisation, finance, staffing and curricula in 34 European countries (the 27 EU member states, plus Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey). Although, in most European countries, the state no longer has direct control over universities, exerting only indirect control, universities still lack autonomy in a wide range of sectors, in particular funding, the study notes. At a time when public funding for higher education is falling and when, consequently, universities are being required to find alternative sources of finance, this lack of autonomy presents a real danger to the future of universities which do not manage to carry out the necessary reforms, the EUA says. Too direct dependence on public authorities, which do not fully understand the problems faced by the universities, is also a real threat to the quality of the establishments, given the lack of long-term vision shown by some ministries and the danger of inappropriate reforms. Governance and autonomy reforms will only achieve their goals if they are accompanied by measures to develop institutional capacity and human resources. These are necessary if universities are to be able to face the new demands placed upon them, the study says, but, equally, they are proving difficult to achieve. Even though there is broad consensus among stakeholders on the importance of university autonomy, it is much more difficult to go from theory to practice, states the study's author Thomas Estermann. Particularly on financial issues, if universities are not free to act in the interests of their students and staff, then other aspects of autonomy may only exist in theory, he warned. The study will pave the way for the EUA's autonomy scorecard, listing universities according to their degree of autonomy and providing a reference for charting universities' progress towards greater autonomy, highlighting those which move most quickly and, therefore, demonstrating which European countries are most successful in this process. The scorecard will be available in two years' time. (I.L./transl.rt)