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Shaping the future of the EU: the momentum is now

28 February 2025

Ludovic Thilly and Beatrix Busse, Chair and Vice-Chair of the Coimbra Group Executive Board respectively
Emmanuelle Gardan, Director of the Coimbra Group Brussels Office

Mid-February, the European Commission released a Communication1 outlining its vision for the elaboration of the next long-term European Union (EU)’s budget which will start in 2028. In line with Ursula von der Leyen’s political guidelines for her second mandate, the document confirms the choice of the Commission to proceed to a comprehensive overhaul of the structure of the EU budget as we know it. One of the main objectives is to better link the EU priorities and the EU budget, in a context of increased policy and budgetary challenges. This approach is marked for instance by the creation of a new European Competitiveness Fund.

These announcements, which were not yet discussed with the university sector, are carrying many uncertainties, both positive and negative. “Choices need to be made” states the Commission. On the same day, a broad series of public consultations was launched, inviting stakeholders and citizens to “shape the future of the EU together” by sharing their input on the 2028-2034 EU’s multiannual financial framework (MFF) and the policies it should support. The responses will inform the Commission’s official proposal for the next MFF, which is expected to be adopted in July this year.

The Coimbra Group (CG) Executive Board’s message to EU policymakers remains strong and clear: we have no choice but to build a Europe based on the pillars of education, research and innovation. This is what we reiterate in a new statement published on 25 February. We affirm that it is only by investing in these key areas that Europe can drive knowledge creation, foster cross-border collaboration, and increase its competitiveness. A competitiveness that is not solely defined in economic terms.

CG calls for a stand-alone Erasmus+ programme and a stand-alone R&I framework programme (FP10) in the next MFF with ring-fenced budgets for both programmes for the whole MFF duration. We will of course elaborate our position in more details in the network’s contribution to the various Commission’s consultations.

This week we also attended in Brussels the Commission’s vibrant high-level meeting “Shaping the future: European universities alliances for a competitive Europe”, where keynote Enrico Letta made a compelling case for the free circulation of research, innovation, knowledge, skills and competences. The European Degree (ED) must be seen as a cornerstone of this so-called fifth freedom2.

On 3 February, CG Executive Board issued a much-noticed statement urging EU member states to make rapid progress in the enactment of the European Degree. This statement was prepared in the context of ongoing discussions on a EU Council resolution on the ED, and a EU Council recommendation on the European system for quality assurance and qualification recognition in higher education, are currently being discussed. The adoption of these two texts by EU’s Higher Education Ministers is planned for the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council meeting which takes place on 12 May 2025 in Brussels.

We claim that the EU’s unity, its values and cooperation are our strongest assets in today’s polycrises. The times call for an ambitious vision for higher education, the bedrock of social cohesion, progress, innovation and competitiveness. We call on all actors to focus on the benefits and opportunities of the ED, rather than dwelling on the challenges. There is a breadth of evidence and analysis available. Let’s build on it: the momentum is now!

  1. “The road to the next multiannual financial framework”, Communication from the European Commission,11 February 2025, https://tinyurl.com/mff20282034 ↩︎
  2. “Much more than a market”, Enrico Letta, April 2024, https://tinyurl.com/enr-letta-report ↩︎