The European Commission wants to improve transnational cooperation in the EU between European higher education institutions, in particular by setting up a legal statute for alliances of higher education institutions, in a Recommendation to the EU Council presented on Tuesday 18 January.
“The European Universities Alliances are paving the way; by mid-2024 the European budget will support up to 60 European Universities Alliances with more than 500 Universities across Europe”, said European Commissioner for Innovation and Research Mariya Gabriel.
This Recommendation to the EU Council is part of the higher education package (see other news) announced in the European Commission’s 2022 work programme (see EUROPE 12814/4).
While the strategy sets out a vision for the transformation of Europe’s higher education sector, the Recommendation is the first step “in an incremental approach towards deeper, more sustainable and more effective transnational cooperation”, the institution explains in the preamble to the Recommendation.
To achieve this, it advocates: - the development of a legal statute for alliances of higher education to pool resources; - the creation of a Joint European degree; - the widespread use of the European Student Card initiative by mid-2024.
Regarding the legal statute, the Commission suggests the full implementation of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) in order to deploy pilot projects under the Erasmus+ programme. For the Alliances, the institution recalled the importance of the Horizon Europe framework programme.
The Recommendation emphasises the importance of the autonomy of higher education institutions in the context of transnational cooperation. It suggests improving mutual trust between higher education institutions through external quality assurance services and curricula. It also proposes to involve teaching staff, researchers and students more in the governance of transnational education structures.
The Commission also proposes to support the development of common virtual collaborative learning, for example by supporting the development of common strategies and by developing shared IT infrastructures.
Budget. This initiative will not require additional resources from the EU budget, the Commission says. However, the measures in this Recommendation will mobilise sources of funding at European, national and regional level, notes the institution.
Follow-up. The Commission recommends that Member States implement the Recommendation as soon as possible and submit a national plan setting out the relevant measures.
The institution intends to report on the use of the Recommendation through monitoring frameworks and EU reports. A report should be prepared by the Commission no later than 5 years after the adoption of the Recommendation.
To access the Recommendation: https://bit.ly/3qFY4jX (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)