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Modernising universities
The Commission proposes stronger action at European level to implement the
necessary reforms in universities and research. The communication describes
the many challenges facing universities and proposes essential reforms
concerning, for example, mobility, recognition of qualifications, autonomy,
skills, funding, excellence and partnership with business.
ACT
Communication of 10 May 2006 from the Commission to the Council and the European
Parliament - Delivering on the modernisation agenda for universities: education,
research and innovation [COM(2006) 208 final - Not published in the Official Journal]

SUMMARY
The challenges facing European universities
With 4 000 establishments, over 17 million students and some 1.5 million staff - of whom 435
000 are researchers - European universities have enormous potential.
Member States' desire for uniformity has led to a generally good average level, but has also
contributed towards fragmenting the education sector into small national systems. This
complicates cooperation at national level, and even more so at European or international
level, and imposes conditions which prevent universities from diversifying and focusing on
quality.
Most universities also tend to offer similar courses to similarly highly-qualified young students,
although they could open up to other types of learning and learners through non-degree
retraining courses for adults or transitional courses for those who have not followed the
standard educational route.
Moreover, many administrative regulations hamper academic mobility for studying, research
training or working in another country. Procedures for recognising qualifications are very
lengthy, and the limited transferability of loans or grants and pension rights prevent students,
researchers and academics from taking full advantage of opportunities in other Member
States.
Many universities still underestimate the benefits of sharing knowledge with business circles,
while industry and commerce have not developed sufficient absorption capacity to harness
the potential of university-based research.
The structural and cultural problems are exacerbated by the major lack of funding which
affects universities on both the education and research sides. Compared with their United
States counterparts, European universities exhibit a gap in resources for both research and
education activities of 10 000 per student per year. European universities are lagging behind
in the increasing international competition to attract the best researchers and students.
While all universities share certain common values and tasks, they do not necessarily have
the same balance between education and research, the same approach to research and
research training, or the same mix of services and academic disciplines. Research should
remain a key task of each education system as a whole, but not necessarily for all its

component institutions. Taking stock of the debate, and taking into account European
specificities, the Commission proposes the following changes:
Break down the barriers surrounding universities
Cross-border and inter-sectoral mobility needs to increase substantially. The number of
graduates who have spent at least a semester or a year abroad or who have acquired
professional experience should at least double. This is even more true for researchers.
National grants and loans should be more easily transferable throughout the EU. Fully
transferable pension rights and the removal of all obstacles to professional mobility , including
internationally and between sectors, are needed to foster staff and researcher mobility and
hence innovation.
A major effort should be made to implement the main reforms of the Bologna process by 2010
throughout the EU:

comparable qualifications (short cycle, Bachelor or equivalent, Master, Doctorate);

flexible, modern curricula at all levels which meet the needs of the labour market;
trustworthy quality assurance systems.

Curricula for specific disciplines or professions should be modernised, drawing on

comparisons and best practice at European level.
Procedures for academic recognition should also be modernised to ensure quicker and more
predictable decisions (in particular by publishing universities' recognition policies). As with
professional recognition, the Commission proposes that no applicant should have to wait
longer than four months for an academic recognition decision.
Ensure real autonomy and accountability for universities
Member States should guide the university sector through a framework of general rules,
policy objectives, funding mechanisms and incentives for education, research and innovation
activities. In return for being freed from over-regulation and micro-management, universities
should accept full institutional accountability to society at large for their results.
This requires new internal governance systems based on strategic priorities and on
professional management of human resources, investment and administrative procedures. It
also requires universities to overcome their fragmentation into faculties, departments,
laboratories and administrative units and to target their efforts collectively at institutional
priorities for research, teaching and services.
Provide incentives for structured partnerships with the business community
Structured partnerships with the business community (including SMEs) bring opportunities for
universities to improve the sharing of research results, intellectual property rights, patents and
licences (e.g. through on-campus start-ups or the creation of science parks).
To secure these benefits, most universities will need external support to make the necessary
organisational changes and build up entrepreneurial attitudes and management skills. This
also implies that development of entrepreneurial, management and innovation skills should
become an integral part of graduate education, research training and lifelong learning
strategies for university staff.
Provide the right mix of skills for the labour market

In order to overcome persistent mismatches between young graduates' qualifications and the
needs of the labour market, university courses should be structured to enhance graduates'
employability and to provide broad support to the workforce more generally. This should
extend beyond the needs of the labour market to the stimulation of an entrepreneurial mindset
among students and researchers.
At doctoral level, it means that candidates aiming for a professional research career should
acquire skills in the following in addition to training in research techniques:

research;
intellectual property rights management;
communication;
networking;
entrepreneurship;
team-working.

Make funding work more effectively in education and research

Member States should critically examine their current mix of student fees and support
schemes. Excellence in teaching and research cannot be achieved if socio-economic origin is
a barrier to access or to research careers.
Universities should be funded more for what they do than for what they are, by focusing
funding on outputs rather than inputs and by adapting funding to the diversity of institutional
profiles. Universities which are very active in research should not be assessed and funded on
the same basis as other universities which have less research activity but are more involved
in integrating students from less favoured backgrounds or which provide an impetus for the
local economy.
Each country should strike the right balance between core, competitive and outcome-based
funding (underpinned by quality assurance) for higher education and university-based
research.
Enhance interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity
Universities should be able to reconfigure their teaching and research agendas to seize the
opportunities offered by new developments in existing and innovative fields. This requires
focusing less on scientific disciplines and more on research fields (e.g. sustainable energy or
nanotechnology), associating them more closely with related or complementary fields (such
as humanities and social sciences, management and entrepreneurial skills) and fostering
interaction between students, researchers and research teams through greater mobility
between disciplines, sectors and research settings.
All this necessitates new institutional and organisational approaches to staff management,
evaluation and funding criteria, teaching and curricula.
Increase knowledge in society
Universities must commit themselves to providing opportunities for lifelong learning and apply
a broad communication strategy based on conferences, open days, placements, discussion
forums, structured dialogues with alumni, etc.
At European level, excellence at graduate/doctoral schools should be encouraged by
networking those which meet key criteria:

critical mass;

interdisciplinarity;
strong European dimension;
backing from public authorities and from businesses;
identified and recognised areas of excellence;
provision of post-doctoral opportunities;
reliable quality assurance.

In this context two initiatives will particularly strengthen competition for excellence: the
establishment of a European Institute for Technology and a European Research Council.
Make the European Research and Higher Education Areas more visible
Globalisation means that the European Higher Education Area and the European Research
Area must be fully open to the world and become worldwide competitive players.
It is fundamental to simplify and speed up legal and administrative procedures for non-EU
students and researchers. Concerning admission and residence of third-country researchers,
in 2005 the Council adopted a package of measures issuing visas for researchers ,
comprising a Directive and two recommendations which will have to be incorporated into
national law during 2007.
Commission actions
The Commission can provide fresh political impetus via coordinated interaction with Member
States through the open coordination method, identifying and spreading best practice and
supporting Member States in their search for more effective university systems.
The Commission can also provide funding which will have a significant impact on universities'
quality and performance. This includes incentives to help universities attain the objectives
highlighted in the Commission communication. The mechanisms include the new
programmes for 2007-13 ( 7th EU Framework Programme for R&D , Lifelong Learning
Programme , Competitiveness and Innovation Programme ), as well as the Structural Funds
and European Investment Bank loans.
The proposed European Institute of Technology will have a governance structure involving
excellence, interdisciplinarity, networking between centres and between academia and
business, which echoes the messages of the Commission communication.
Commission proposals
Implementing the necessary restructuring and modernisation requires coordinated action by
all the partners involved.
Member States, when implementing the Integrated Guidelines for growth and jobs and their
National Reform Programmes, should take measures with regard to universities - including on
such aspects as management, autonomy and accountability, innovation capacity, access to
higher education and adapting training systems to new skill requirements.
Universities, for their part, need to make strategic choices and implement internal reforms to
extend their funding base, enhance their areas of excellence and improve their
competitiveness; structured partnerships with the business community and other potential
partners will be indispensable to these changes.
The Commission can contribute through implementation of the Lisbon Programme , through
policy dialogue and mutual learning, in particular under the Education and Training 2010 Work
Programme , and through financial support to Member States and to universities in their
modernisation activities.

The Commission calls upon the Council and the European Parliament to demonstrate the
EU's determination to implement the necessary restructuring and modernisation of
universities, and urges all concerned to take immediate steps to take this agenda forward.
Background
At the informal meeting at Hampton Court in October 2005, R&D and universities were
acknowledged as a key factor in the EU's competitiveness. The European Council in the
spring of 2006 called for stronger action to drive forward successive reforms aimed at
modernising universities and research.

RELATED ACTS
Commission communication of 20 April 2005 - Mobilising the brainpower of Europe :
enabling universities to make their full contribution to the Lisbon Strategy [COM(2005)
152 final - Not published in the Official Journal].
Commission communication of 5 February 2003 - The role of universities in the Europe
of knowledge [COM(2003) 58 final - Not published in the Official Journal].
Detailed work programme on the follow-up of the objectives of Education and training
systems in Europe [OJ C142, 14.6.2002].
Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions:
Towards a European Research Area - final - Not published in the Official Journal].
Bologna Declaration , of 19 June 1999, adopted by 29 countries with a view to
achieving convergence between higher education systems in Europe.
Last updated: 14.11.2006

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