SUMMARY
While the EU's formal role in higher education is
limited, with Member States retaining primary responsibility for
their universities, we believe that it has still added value to
this area in a number of ways, particularly through the Erasmus
programme for student mobility, which has now entered its 25th
year. The Commission believes, however, that the potential of
European universities to contribute to Europe's future prosperity,
in economic and social terms, remains underexploited. Its Communication
on the modernisation of higher education in Europe sets out how
it intends to support this aim through a number of initiatives,
many of which form part of its funding proposals for research,
innovation and education for the period 2014 to 2020, and for
which it has proposed a significant increase in funding. Some
of these proposals are welcome but as European universities and
Member States are currently operating within a very difficult
financial climate, it is important to be realistic about what
can be achieved.
Since 1999, significant changes to European universities
have occurred outside the EU framework as a result of the Bologna
Process, which has seen the closer alignment of higher education
systems across Europe. 47 European countries participate, including
all 27 Member States. The Commission, which is also a member in
its own right, has played a key role in its development, particularly
regarding mobility but also through the sponsorship and development
of instruments that have become important parts of the Bologna
Process. While the United Kingdom already complies with many of
the Bologna Process' features, and many of our witnesses were
positive about its role in principle, we developed the impression
that the Government and many universities were yet to realise
and fully embrace its potential benefits.
Subject to reductions being made in other areas of
the EU budget and overall restraint being achieved, we support
the allocation of a bigger proportion of funds to research, innovation
and education. We consider that the targeting of resources in
this way will result in long-term economic benefits for the EU.
The Commission's proposal for a new university ranking instrument,
U-Multirank, elicited strong reactions among our witnesses. While
we consider that it overcomes some of the disadvantages inherent
in the current world rankings, we believe that it is not a priority
at this stage.
To us, the benefits of mobility, personally and in
terms of increased employability, are important but have yet to
be proven. However, the monoglot culture that prevails in the
United Kingdom has prevented its students from participating in
mobility schemes to the same degree as other Member States. Coupled
with financial, socioeconomic and cultural barriers, increased
participation in future cannot be assured. We therefore urge the
Government to overcome the United Kingdom's lack of mobility culture
by making language learning compulsory in primary and secondary
school, ensuring the continuation of the fee waiver scheme and
supporting the development of the proposed Masters level student
loan guarantee facility, both of which will aid more disadvantaged
students in particular. Universities and the Commission can also
do more to increase participation by promoting mobility opportunities
far more widely and by making Erasmus placements more flexible.
The United Kingdom has long been an attractive location
for students from other parts of Europe and beyond in order to
hone their English language skills. However, increasing competition
from Continental universities—many of which now provide
courses in English with sometimes significantly cheaper fees than
in the United Kingdom—means that the Government should remain
vigilant about any factors that could undermine the higher education
sector's competitive position, including recent domestic reforms.
The EU can continue to make a positive contribution
to the modernisation of European higher education but it must
be pragmatic and concentrate on areas where it can truly add value.
For its part, the Government should place higher education at
the centre of its growth agenda, domestically and across Europe,
by drawing on the potential of both the EU and the Bologna Process.
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