Commissioner Ján Figel’: Universities and the knowledge society, Academic Senate Università La SapienzaRome, 23 June 2005

Academic Senate Università La Sapienza
Rome, 23 June 2005

Magnifici Rettori,

Membri del Senato accademico,

Chiarissimi professori,

Cari studenti,

Signore e signori:

First of all, I would like to thank Professor Guarini for his kind invitation to speak to you on the occasion of my first official visit as European Commissioner in charge of education, training, culture and multilingualism in your beautiful eternal city.

I would also like to take the opportunity to greet all the Rectors present here today and wish them a very fruitful meeting of the Italian Rectors’ Conference.

It is a pleasure to share with you my views on the future of Europe’s universities.

Two threads will run through my intervention:

• What universities can do to help us lead Europe into the knowledge era;
• What we can do to enable universities to unleash their full potential.

One assumption holds these two points together: learning, research and innovation have never been more crucial for the future of our economies and societies.

But before I get into the thick of my argument, I need to briefly clear the political ground.

European affairs have dominated the media across the continent since the French and Dutch “no” to the Constitutional Treaty. The news and comments we are receiving have not been always positive, to say the least.

A pause for reflection was the best decision our national leaders could take in the European Council last week, especially taking into account the final non-result of the negotiations on the future financial perspectives.

I am confident that this will give us time to regain our strength. I have no doubt that in a few months’ time we will rebound and come out stronger than before, as we have done so many times in the past.

Centres of learning have a lot to contribute:

• Here events are analysed, understood and given their deeper sense;
• here live and work many opinion makers that can win the hearts and minds of our peoples;
• here the future leaders and citizens of Europe are nurtured.

La Sapienza defines itself as Europe’s largest university. For this reason alone, it cannot forget its responsibilities. And I extend my plea to the universities of Rome and of the other Italian universities here represented and to the other centres of learning in your country.

Italian intellectual and political leaders have always been among the pioneers of our process of integration, and Italy’s own soil is in many ways the cradle of Europe.

• 50 years ago our we made a giant leap towards a united Europe in the conference of Messina;
• Two year’s later—and certainly not by chance—the European Community was established in this very city.

There is no doubt in my heart that Italy will continue to be at the forefront of Europe’s process of integration and of our joint efforts to build the Europe of knowledge.

La Sapienza and the other Italian universities have all they need to take the lead in this quest.

Your magnificent city continues to be the perfect environment because of its unique mix of history and drive towards the future; because it is a crossroads of cultures; and because it is a natural bridge between the countries and the peoples that live around the Mediterranean and the rest of Europe.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Now that I have cleared the ground, let us move on to the future of Europe’s higher education.

These are challenging times for Europe’s universities as well: the Bologna process is moving ahead and the new impetus the Barroso Commission gave to the Lisbon Strategy has brought knowledge, research and education under the spotlight.

We are now charting a new course. In the past, our action focused on mobility; now the emphasis is shifting towards structural change and reforms at national and institutional level.

I would like to stress this last point: ‘national and institutional reforms’. The European Union is not responsible for education and training systems. That is the sole responsibility of Member States.

Yet, we can facilitate change, especially thanks to the work of the European Commission. Indeed, improving the quality of European education and training is one of our duties.

A major challenge for Europe’s universities is global competition. For a few years now we have been falling behind our main international competitors.

It is clear that we need to change this picture, but how? The reforms needed can follow two Europe–wide paths: the Bologna process and the education and training strand of the Lisbon Strategy.

I will start with the former.

Last month, the Ministers of the 45 countries that participate in the Bologna process met in Norway to take stock of the progress made halfway through this decade.

The news were encouraging:

• More than half of the students are now enrolled in programmes that are in line with the new 3–cycle degree structure;
• Almost all countries of the Union have made provisions for quality assurance systems;
• 36 of the 45 participating countries have ratified the Lisbon Recognition Convention.

To me, this means that Europe’s higher education world has clearly seen the importance of integration for your future and for the future of us all.

Universities will be among the driving forces of Europe in the next months and years.

At the same time, there is still a lot to do. This is why the Ministers did not add new priorities but decided instead to reinforce the process.

The Communiqué that was approved in Bergen highlighted several aspects:

• European higher education should be more accessible to all regardless of social and economic background;
• higher education and research should open up to other regions of the world and become more attractive;
• doctoral programmes should be developed and a better synergy sought between the European Areas for Higher Education and Research.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I have given you some details from the Bologna process to justify my next claim: that this process is compatible and convergent with the policies of the European Commission.

The latest step we have taken in this field is the Communication that was approved last April 20; a document titled “Mobilising the brainpower of Europe: enabling universities to make their full contribution to the Lisbon Strategy”.

This is an accurate and independent examination that we carried out over time listening to very many academics, administrators, policy makers, and other stakeholders.

Our first finding is that Europe’s higher education systems and institutions are in good shape. But our role is identifying problems and putting forward solutions.

So, these are the main weaknesses we found:

• over–regulation,
• conformity to a single model of university,
• severe under–funding of both higher education and research,
• fragmentation into small clusters,
• relative insulation from industry and society, and
• too few employment prospects for researchers.

To tackle these challenges, we have suggested a series of reforms under three main headings: attractiveness, governance, and funding.

Attractiveness. Our universities should regain their status as reference points and attract the best intellectuals, scientists, and students from the world over.

Two main reforms to do this:

• degrees should be recognised across Europe and beyond, and
• course offerings should become more relevant to the job market.

The second main area is governance.

Those rules that work against modernisation and efficiency should be reconsidered. Two examples:

• fewer courses should be defined on a national basis so that it would be easier for universities to respond to local or regional needs.
• Also, Universities should become more flexible employers; especially they should make it easier for young teachers and researchers to join their ranks.

One little note on this last point: those institutions and systems that move faster will benefit from an influx of fresh forces seeking more independence, better career prospects and higher salaries.

Our overall proposal calls for a new partnership between universities and public authorities.

The State should focus its efforts on the strategic orientation of higher education as a system and universities should gain more autonomy.

In particular, universities should be fully responsible for their programmes, their staff and their resources.

On the other hand, universities should do their part as well. For instance, curricula should be more differentiated, their content and methods should be designed to serve more diverse groups of learners and the benefits of quality education should be brought to wider sectors of the population.

Last but not least, the issue of funding, and here not many words are needed.

It is imperative that we close the funding gap. At its current level, lack of funds is a direct threat to the competitiveness of European higher education and research.

The Commission has been doing its part and will continue to do so; now the ball is in the court of national and regional governments and of university institutions.

We will support reform any way we can, including using financial instruments like the 7th Framework Programme and Structural Funds.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Europe needs a fresh start; why should it not come from the world of education?

The challenges are clearly identified and there is a broad consensus around them. The solutions are on the table and the debate is open. The one clear thing is the final goal.

We need to enable our higher–education and research institution to attract and keep the best brains, to honour our century–old scholarly tradition of excellence, and to contribute to the well–being of our economies and societies.

Italy has always been one of the main characters of European history. Italy can and must contribute to the quantum leap towards the knowledge-based society that we all wish, in order to guarantee a better future to our children and continent. I trust that I can count on your engagement.

Thank you.

Item source: SPEECH/05/380 Date: 23/06/2005 Previous Item Back to Titles Print Item