APPENDIX 1: MEMORANDUM BY UNIVERSITIES
UK
Universities UK is pleased to provide the House of
Lords EU Sub-Committee G (Social Policy and Consumer Affairs)
with this memorandum outlining our current views on the proposals,
put forward by the European Commission, for a European Institute
of Technology (EIT). We would be pleased to provide any further
input to the Committee on this issue.
Background to EIT proposals
The European Commission adopted its formal proposal
to create an EIT on 18 October 2006. The intention to create
an EIT was announced by President Barroso in Spring 2005 as part
of the Commission's review of the Lisbon strategy. The proposal
was intended to be one means of raising the quality and profile
of European research, drawing together the academic, research
and business worlds to maximise Europe's potential and global
competitiveness.
It is proposed that the EIT should be an autonomous
institution, with legal personality and with a light-touch independent
Governing Board defining its strategy, activities and budget.
The Board would fund partnerships of teams and departments from
universities, businesses and research organisations, tasked with
carrying out research, innovation and teaching of post-graduate
students in multi-disciplinary fields over 10-15 years. These
partnerships would be termed Knowledge and Innovation Communities
(KICs). The Commission proposes that the EIT should create approximately
six KICs by 2013, addressing strategic long-term challenges in
fields of key potential economic and societal interest for Europe.
The overall budget of the EIT for the period is estimated
at some € 2.4 bn. This funding will come from a
variety of sources, including a contribution directly from the
Community budget and contributions from the private sector. It
is also expected that that the KICs will attract funding on a
normal competitive basis from relevant programmes such as the
Seventh Research Framework, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness
and Innovation Programmes, as well as the Structural Funds.
The EIT will encourage partner institutions to award
joint degrees and diplomas and actively promote the process of
recognition of EIT degrees by the Member States.
UUK view on the EIT
We are encouraged that since the idea of an EIT was
first put forward the Commission's thinking in this area has evolved
and now takes account of some of the initial concerns the UK HE
sector and others had outlined. We are particularly glad that
the Commission have moved away from the idea of creating a physical
entity from scratch; dropped the proposals to second staff from
participating institutions; and, moved away from the proposal
for the EIT to have its own degree awarding powers. There remain,
however, a number of areas of concern and areas where further
clarity is needed, particularly around the funding arrangements.
Whilst we welcome the move away from the original
proposals for a physical entity, towards a more 'virtual' and
'networked' approach, this does mean that the EIT concept strays
into territory that is already very well populated.[3]
Evidence suggests that universities and business already find
the current landscape difficult to navigate, which works against
their participation and engagement in European initiatives. There
is a real danger of over initiative and we believe that the success
of the EIT will depend on its clarity of focus and purpose, so
as to differentiate it from other initiatives. The Commission
has so far provided only limited information on funding of the
EIT.
Although negotiations are ongoing, there is still
no clear picture of where the funding will come from, how private
funding will be attracted, or how this will impact on other budgetary
priorities. The EIT document published on 18 October 2006 suggests
that the funding needed to support the EIT's 6 KICs will come
from a range of sources on a co-funding basis (member states,
private sources, income generation and endowments), though for
this initial 6-year period it is expected that a substantial amount
of 'front loading' will come from the Community budget.
It is proposed that the direct Community support
will come from the unallocated margins of sub-heading 1A of the
EU budget (covering competitiveness and employment) directly up
to an amount of €308,7 million. This does, however, leave
a very large sum of money to be found. There is no explicit guarantee
as to where this will come from. It is unlikely that sufficient
private income or endowments could be generated by a new and unproven
entity. Universities have been working at this for years with
only moderate success and as of yet the EIT concept has nothing
to suggest it can overcome the challenges in this area in any
significant way.
It is also suggested that the EIT will bid for Framework
Programme, Structural Funds and Competitiveness and Innovation
Programme as an institution in its own right. There is, however,
no reason to assume that a new and unproven entity will have success
in doing this. EIT participation in these programmes would also
raise question over how distinct the EIT is vis-à-vis other
EU instruments that have been put in place to support R&D
and knowledge transfer.
Other areas that continue to require close scrutiny
are the question of EIT degrees and the governance and operation
of the new organisation.
UUK had expressed concern over the initial proposals
that would have seen the KICs being able to award EIT degrees.
We therefore welcome the Commission's move to state that the EIT
shall only encourage partner organisations to award joint degrees
and diplomas to reflect the integrated nature of the KICs.
It will be important that participating universities
have complete autonomy in this regard. Whilst we welcome the proposal
that EIT degrees would seek to embed innovation and entrepreneurship
within degree programmes, participating universities will need
to have the autonomy to respond to demands from employers and
students.
There are still questions over how EIT degrees would
be recognised or quality assured, particularly within the context
of the Bologna process. Further clarity in this area is still
required.
Despite the concerns and uncertainty highlighted
above, UUK recognises that we need to work with the EIT concept
and help shape it into something that can work, though it will
be crucial that all stakeholders involved in the discussions provide
close scrutiny. In our view if the EIT were to go ahead we would
prefer to see a more modest first phase than that that currently
proposed (perhaps two KICs, rather than six), with a built in
review to assess progress and the possibility of expansion. This
would seem a sensible approach for what is essentially a new and
untried concept.
UUK continue to liaise with the UK government on
this to ensure the views of the HE sector can be represented in
the European Council, as well as raising awareness with MEPs and
Commission officials.
3 For example, the distinction between the EIT and
European Technology Platforms and Joint Technology Initiatives
is still in particular need of clarification, as there is the
potential for significant overlap of purpose and over initiative.
We also have Networks of Excellence (NoE) and Integrated Projects
(IP) under the Framework Programme which seek to do similar things
to the EIT e.g. IPs aim to integrate the critical mass of activities
and resources needed to achieve ambitious clearly defined scientific
and technological objectives. Back
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