The informal meeting of European ministers for higher education and research opened in Budapest on Monday 16 September. Organised under the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union, the aim of the meeting is to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness in terms of research, innovation and education, in line with the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency and the recommendations of recent reports drawn up by Enrico Letta (see EUROPE 13393/3) and Mario Draghi (see EUROPE 13478/1).
The various discussions focused on the implementation of a European diploma proposed by the European Commission last March (see EUROPE 13380/3) to encourage inter-university cooperation and student mobility.
The aim was to provide guidelines so that the Council of the EU could establish a clear position on this subject, which is deemed to be central to the future of the European academic sector.
Tuesday 17 September will be devoted to European competitiveness in terms of research and innovation, with the aim of preventing the dispersal of research efforts and better coordinating resources and initiatives within the EU.
Austro-Hungarian physicist Ferenc Krausz, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize, will share his thoughts on specific ways to strengthen this competitiveness through research.
On his arrival on 16 September, the Hungarian Minister for Culture and Innovation, Balázs Hankó, emphasised the urgency of this collaboration: “If we look at the last decade, we can see that the European Union’s scientific performance has fallen by 8%, while China and the United States have moved ahead. We need a competitive turnaround”.
He called for close cooperation between universities, vocational training institutions and businesses in order to meet today's challenges.
Finally, discussions will focus on the key contribution of free scientific research to European competitiveness. Ministers will consider how to protect this freedom and establish a reliable Europe-wide monitoring system. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)