In their statement, the 35 German universities represented in various European university alliances commit to the EUI's goal of European universities joining forces to pool the strengths and diversity of European research, innovation, education and transfer in new structures. This is to better meet the challenges facing Europe and the world. Five topics are the focus of the statement: diversity, holism, evaluation, communication and sustainability.
In the area of diversity, the universities call for the EUI to be open to excellent higher education institutions from partner countries outside the Erasmus area (such as Switzerland, the UK or Israel) to ensure a global dimension, visibility and impact of their efforts.
In addition, the signatories advocate that the European University Alliances take a holistic approach that considers all university dimensions equally. To this end, they say, it is crucial that funding programs such as Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, and other talent and mobility programs be brought together and aligned.
In addition, according to the universities, the European higher education alliances should be evaluated according to quantitative and qualitative criteria. In addition, the EU must support the alliances in their future-oriented and impact-oriented work through transparent and timely communication on the most important evaluation modalities and criteria in the respective tender rounds within the framework of Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe.
Finally, the European university networks must be offered a long-term perspective – also with regard to adequate resources – because the alliances are designed for the long term and need appropriate resources for their work.
With their demands, the undersigned universities want to contribute, together with the European Commission, to the advancement of European universities as beacons and sustainable actors in European higher education, research, innovation and interaction with society.
